Chairperson, hon Minister and Deputy Minister, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, our constitutional democracy has advanced the right of our people to equality, to protection against racial, gender and other discrimination, as well as to the progressive realisation of access to the basic necessities of life. In the water sector itself, we have seen a state of major change since 1994, with substantial new policy and legislative changes that define the framework for water and sector management in the country. The provision of safe domestic water supplies has reached 95% of the population, showing remarkable strides since 1994.
Hon Minister, the work of the department has evolved substantially and substantively in the years since the attainment of our democracy. Pieces of legislation and constitutional prescripts, new institutional structures, compliance mechanisms and budgetary aspects have been undertaken systematically to ensure that all our citizens have access to clean water and sanitation.
For South Africa, and in relation to the water sector, the vision of the ANC, through the National Development Plan, government's Medium Term Strategic Framework and the National Water Resource Strategy, among other executive documents, has moved towards the creation of a dynamic, people- centred department. The department, in its current and previous undertakings, leads the effective management of the nation's water resources to meet the needs of current and future generations. The strategic goals, in line with the sustainable development needs of our country, include ensuring affordable basic water, building, operating and maintaining infrastructure and ensuring that institutions are aligned effectively.
Since the advent of democracy in South Africa, there has been the provision of basic service delivery in an equitable manner. The ANC government has made tremendous strides towards that, but more still needs to be done to address the imbalances of the past. In his 2009 state of the nation address, the President of the Republic, the hon Jacob Zuma, said that South Africa is a dry country with limited resources that require careful management so that these scarce resources could be used to extend basic water services to every citizen, while meeting the needs of economic growth without threatening the environmental integrity of water resources.
In relation to water sector management, which I am specifically focusing on today, the intersection of water with every other sector in this country is critical. Therefore, the Department of Water and Sanitation emphasises that the purpose of the water sector programme is:
... to ensure that the country's water resources are protected, used, developed, conserved, managed and controlled in a sustainable manner for the benefit of all people and the environment by developing and implementing effective policies and integrated planning strategies.
How exactly will the department, in translating the above purpose, align its budget, plans and programmes to attain its purpose and goals over the medium term? Over the medium term, the department has identified a number of key objectives to realise the purpose underpinning this programme. This is to ensure that the country's water resources are protected, used, developed, conserved, managed and controlled in a sustainable manner for the benefit of all the people and the environment by developing and implementing effective policies and integrated planning strategies and by developing a knowledge base and procedures.
Over the medium term, water sector management received an allocation of R597,8 million for the 2014-15 financial year, R618,9 million for the 2015- 16 financial year and R689 million for the 2016-17 financial year respectively.
Some of the key objectives and targets prioritised over the medium term for this programme include the following: ensuring that water resources are managed sustainably and that funding is raised for refurbishing existing infrastructure by gazetting the final water pricing strategy in 2014-15; monitoring the national resource strategy implementation and improving the monitoring of water resources; ensuring the equitable allocation of water resources for social and economic development by implementing water allocation reform; ensuring that available water is used efficiently by implementing water conservation and demand management programmes, including sector awareness and mobilisation on an ongoing basis over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework period; and developing the integrated water quality management strategy. The spending focus over the medium term will be on ensuring the availability of and access to water for environmental and socioeconomic use through planning, developing policies and maintaining data management systems. The bulk of expenditure in this programme will go to activities in the water information management and integrated planning subprogrammes, which perform these activities, at R222 million and R159 million respectively. This spending is related to the strategic objectives of improving water resources and water services information and ensuring the effective performance of water management and service institutions.
Under the water sector management programme, the department has committed to setting the strategic framework for water management in the country, which entails, among other measures, revising and gazetting the raw water pricing strategy for consultation, amending water-related legislation, gazetting the second edition of the National Water Resource Strategy, and finalising the institutional realignment framework. It is also committed to improving the management of water resources through establishing catchment management agencies and assessing the compliance of the 16 water institutions with co-operative governance.
Despite the challenges confronting the water sector, the Department of Water and Sanitation, in relation to water sector management for current and future needs, has begun systematically planning the process to prioritise the huge water demands for equitable allocation to development and economic growth. The water sector in South Africa has a number of ongoing and proposed initiatives that have been established to respond to the sector's challenges. These initiatives include an intervention programme in high-risk areas where there are water challenges.
The department is investing R500 million in this special intervention programme that focuses on the following areas: ageing infrastructure that leads to the discharge of sewage into our rivers; water conservation in water-stressed areas, areas where illegal abstraction takes place and areas with no infrastructure and where communities are vulnerable to waterborne diseases; development of water reconciliation strategies for all catchments; the implementation of the Blue Drop and Green Drop certification programmes for water treatment and wastewater treatment plants respectively; the implementation of water conservation and water demand management programmes; and the implementation of the National Water Services Infrastructure Asset Management Strategy.
Of importance to this sector is the culmination and gazetting of the second edition of the National Water Resource Strategy, which factors in the myriad challenges facing South Africa in the water sector and responds in a measured, constructive and logical way that would ensure, if implemented by all South Africans, that water served as an enabler for economic and social development and not as a stumbling block. The second edition of the National Water Resource Strategy places strong emphasis on the fact that equity in access to water should take place in the context of South Africa's water resources being under increasing pressure in terms of abstraction, habitat destruction and pollution. Climate change adds a dimension of stress to the pressure on our water resources.
In this complex physical, social and economic matrix, the effective management of our scarce water resources requires appropriate strategies, skills and capabilities. The second edition of the National Water Resource Strategy sets out the strategies for achieving such effective water resource management with a particular, albeit not exclusive, focus on the role of the state and, specifically, on the Department of Water and Sanitation as the water sector leader, associated sector departments - the ones that impact water resources and its management, catchment management agencies, water services authorities, water boards, and other organs of state that have a responsibility for water management. It also focuses on the importance of water use sectors to become involved in and commit to effective resource management.
A key issue is that this strategy is developed against the backdrop of South Africa being a water-scarce country and that water security and associated equity must be achieved within specific spatial, physical, technological, financial and governance constraints and challenges. South Africa potentially has sufficient water resources, but these can only be secured through the effective and timeous implementation of extended and smart water management options - which, I believe, the ANC government, through the department and its entities, is doing very well.
The ANC supports this Budget Vote so that our people continue to enjoy access to water and so that those who do not have such access to water could achieve this too. I thank you. [Applause.]