Chair, hon members, hon Minister, Deputy Minister, and hon guests, all life on earth depends on water. South Africa is one of the few countries in the world that formally recognises access to water as a human right. When the ANC took over in 1994, it strongly located basic services for citizens within a rights-based approach.
The mandate of the Department of Water Affairs is to regulate the water sector nationally, to develop national policy, norms, standards and guidelines for the sector, and to provide targeted support to the municipalities where necessary. The department is therefore the custodian of our water resources.
Sihlalo, mandithi kuMphathiswa uSonjica, uya kuvumelana nam ntombi xa ndisithi unoxanduva phambi kwakho. Besele nditshilo ... [Chairperson, I must say to Minister Sonjica, you will agree with me when I say you have quite a responsibility ahead of you. I said before that ...]
... our survival as human beings depends on you and your department. Running water that comes out when you open a tap travels a very long way. Rain that falls from the sky is channelled into storm-water drains and eventually flows back into the ocean and gives life. Water is a unique commodity.
We congratulate the Minister and the department for supplying rain-water tanks to rural schools and also for providing support in the form of basic water infrastructure to more than 1 200 resource-poor farmers in the year under review. Similarly, a total of 1 019 schools were provided with water sanitation, thanks to you, Minister, and your department.
The ongoing rehabilitation and refurbishment of the dams that you already mentioned have direct positive economic spin-offs through job creation. Water contributes to increased income because it is an important production factor in, above all, agriculture, the food and beverage industry, manufacturing, tourism and hotels, hydro-electric power generation and many other economic activities. Similarly, it contributes to improved food security and the social wellbeing of the poor, because it is a factor in subsistence.
A safe and uncontaminated domestic water supply is a prerequisite for good health and physical or mental vigour and, therefore, for the ability to participate fully in schooling, food production, income-generating activities, and many community affairs. Good water management restricts the habitat of disease vectors and the incidence of water-related diseases such as malaria. Water is a cross-cutting resource that poses critical risks to economic growth and environment. When water is not properly valued, it leads to waste, the misallocation of water resources and prevents bankable projects. In his state of the nation address President Zuma said:
Local government must work, and municipalities must improve the provision of housing, water, sanitation, electricity, waste management and roads.
He further said:
We are not a water-rich country, yet we still waste a lot of water through leaking pipes and inadequate infrastructure. We will be putting measures in place to reduce water losses by half by 2014.
In order to deal with water losses, the drivers of economic growth need to develop new infrastructure. We need to look at the quality of the pipes that we use.
South Africa's water storage distribution and waste water distribution is ageing and needs refurbishment or replacement, as confirmed by the Minister. The strong focus on service delivery backlogs overshadows the significant backlogs in maintenance and rehabilitation. Among the five government priorities identified in the ANC election manifesto of 2009 are rural development, food security and land reform. Therefore, Minister, to fulfil the above, you need water for agriculture, and the latest statistics indicate that 62% of our water is used for agriculture.
Local government is nevertheless facing increasing demands for high levels of service. Inadequate recovery of the cost of supply as a result of poor revenue collection management and high water losses also contribute to poor investment in infrastructure maintenance. Poor maintenance of water and sanitation systems is leading to periodic and sometimes systematic failure, resulting in serious pollution and often in water supply failure.
Since water issues are crosscutting, we need to encourage our department to prioritise water in the planning when building houses, clinics, schools, etc. If this was done at the planning stages, we wouldn't be stuck today with clinics and schools that do not have water. The problem is the planning. Let us focus on planning. When we plan, let us remind ourselves that water is central. Holistic planning is the key to success. You would agree with me that, among the demands raised by protesters, water is a central component underpinning the protests.
Unfortunately, some pieces of legislation that govern us at local government or municipal level are in conflict with national legislation. This further incapacitates us in dealing with some of these issues and has a ripple effect on other stakeholders within the water sector. A case in point is that of the water boards. The water boards are finding it increasingly difficult to undertake their functions effectively. This is due to a disjuncture between various pieces of legislation, some emanating from national water and financial legislation and some from local- government legislation governing financial and water-related matters. Funding is a prerequisite for anything to function, but in order for us to be effective, the stumbling block presented by conflicting pieces of legislation has to be high on the agenda.
Therefore, it is the mandate of the legislators - we ourselves - to seriously review the process and begin amending legislation to ensure that citizens are aware that service delivery is high on the agenda of the public representatives. During the fourth parliament, the Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs commits itself, saying that legislative review, and amendment, is high on its agenda.
Sihlalo, mandibuye ndize apha kuthi. Ukuba apha phakathi kwethu kukho abantu abasebenzisa amanzi bengawahlawuli abohlukanga tu kumasela. Amanzi ayahlawulwa. Sibongoza amafama ukuba njengoko etyala izityalo, esondla iinkomo zawo, ewe, abaphisi ngazo mahala iinkomo nezityalo zawo, ngoko ke mawahlawulele amanzi. [Kwaqhwatywa.] Sihlalo Mandibuye ... (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[Chairperson, I will now focus on us. If there are people amongst us who use water and do not pay the rates, they are no different from thieves. Water must be paid for. We appeal to farmers, as they cultivate their plants and feed their cattle - of course they do not just give away their cattle and plants for free - to pay for water. [Applause.] Chairperson, I must now go back ...]
While I commend the department for their unqualified audit report in the last financial year, the committee is realistic about the number of challenges facing the department. These are, among others, the recruitment of people with special skills, although the Minister does have plans and strategies in place to address the issue of the shortage of special skills. The more serious concern is the difficulty in some areas of implementing the National Water Act, Act 36 of 1998. It is also disturbing to discover that after 15 years in government we still have structures like irrigation boards that do not align themselves to current legislation. These boards were regulated in the Water Act, Act 54 of 1956. I was not even born then. There is no transformation whatsoever in these irrigation boards. Irrigation boards are supposed to be transformed into water users' association institutions, but there is resistance from these boards.
The other issue is the review of water and licensing in this country. I don't want to dwell on this. You know as well as I do that there are problems in those areas. We can't have people in this country who own water as if it's their property.
We should also review the appointment of members serving on the water boards. One of the challenges noted by the committee is the mandate of the chief executive officer, as defined in the legislation. Tensions emanate, and escalate, because the chief executive officer plays a dual role in the process of the nomination and appointment of members of the water boards. This can cause a conflict of interest, because the CEO, who accounts to the board, has the influence to decide who will be her or his boss. We should review the legislation that governs water boards and amend it, if necessary.
As the ANC-led government, we are not only happy to highlight achievements, but we are also willing to look realistically at the challenges. In order to give the best service to citizens, the oversight function of the legislatures has to be equally important.
In a strategic workshop that was held between the department and stakeholders, it was obvious that in some provinces the working relationship between the municipalities and the Department of Water Affairs in provinces is not satisfactory.
Kuza kunyanzeleka ukuba sidibane kwixesha elizayo siziikomiti ezahlukeneyo ukuze sazi ukuba ngubani ofanele ukwenza ntoni phaya emaphondweni. Athi akungabikho amanzi abantu bakhale ngeZiko laManzi, kodwa xa ekhona amanzi babhambathe amagxa kaRhulumente waseKhaya. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[In future we will have to meet as different committees in order to decide who will do what in the provinces. When there is no water people blame the Department of Water Affairs, but when water is available they congratulate the local government.]
I think we should take issues of access to water seriously. We, the portfolio committee, learned that a task team had been established in Parliament that undertook oversight of provinces to evaluate their readiness with regard to the 2010 Fifa World Cup Soccer tournament. However, can you believe that the Water Affairs Portfolio Committee had not been taken on board?
Andiyazi ukuba amaphepha am aphi ke ngoku. [I don't know where my papers are now.]
Inaccessibility to water can even make the World Cup fail or collapse completely.
Besenditshilo kaloku ndathi abanakubakho abantu kungekho manzi. [I already mentioned that people cannot survive without water.]
No World Cup! I congratulate the government for the establishment of a ministerial task team that deals with the evaluation of the readiness of the country to host a successful Fifa World Cup tournament. The Department of Water and Environmental Affairs is part of this.
We request the Minister to look into the spending trends of the department. As much as we are satisfied with the Budget Vote, we are concerned with the department's spending trends, as raised by the National Treasury. We do not expect the department to underspend while the people of the Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and other provinces don't have access to clean drinking water. The community of the Eastern Cape, in the Lusikisiki area, depends on you for the success and speeding up of the long-awaited Umzimvubu Water Project. This project is to boost the economy of the Eastern Cape, in the former Transkei, and should receive urgent priority.
Xa sitshoyo ke Mphathiswa wam endimthandayo sithetha ngeendawo ezinjengoLusikisiki, Mount Frere, Port St Johns, neezinye iindawo ukuya kutsho eMthatha. Sithi kubantu ebabesuka kwiphandle elalisakuba lelaseTranskei, usivile isikhalo senu uMphathiswa weZamanzi uMama uSonjica nombutho wabantu iANC. Singabashiyanga ngasemva abantu beseNgqushwa, Sisi Pam, baza kuwafumana amanzi. Sihlalo, ithemba alibulali kodwa liyadanisa asifuni kubona iimbuso zabantu zidanile kuba zingafumani manzi. Masise amanzi eluntwini, hayi kodwa ke la manzi asinakuwasa eluntwini nge R7,5 billion ukuba sifuna zonke izinto zenzeke iR7,5 billion ... (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[When we talk about that, hon Minister, we are referring to places like Lusikisiki, Mount Frere, Port St Johns and other places up to Mthatha. To those who come from the former Transkei we say, the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Mama Sonjica, and the people's organisation, the ANC, have taken note of your plea. We have not disregarded the people from Pedi, sisi Pam, they will also have access to water. Chairperson, hope doesn't cause death, but it does lead to disappointment and, because of that, we don't want to see people being disappointed due to a lack of water. Let us make water available to the people, but that cannot be done with R7,5 billion; if we need everything to be done, R7,5 billion ...]
... is equal to nothing. Actually the department needs more than R100 billion to deal with the shortage of water in this country.
Thank you, Minister, for working so closely with the portfolio committee. That may be because you were once a chairperson of a committee and you know what is expected of you. We are proud of you and your department.
Let me take this opportunity to thank the acting director-general Nobubele Ngele ...
Uwahleli amalahle sisi nyamezela sesizakufika apho siya khona. [You are in hot water, my sister, you must endure as we are about to reach our destination.]
Thanks to the members of the portfolio committee. To the parliamentary leaders of the ANC, DA, IFP, Cope and UDM, you have selected the best members to serve in this difficult portfolio, which includes the sectors of water and environment.
I will be making a huge mistake if I fail to thank the staff attached to my office. I think I have the most intelligent, super-effective collective. I am no longer even aware of their job descriptions because there are three Jills and one Jack of all trades. They include Shereen Dawood, committee content advisor. I thank her for her professional and strategic guidance of the planning of committee work under difficult circumstances. Miss Thabethe will agree with me. She goes beyond her job description by also providing coaching, mentoring and advice, not only to members but to others, too.
Thanks to Tyhileka Madubela, committee secretary, who, when things are falling apart, is immediately fired, daily or weekly, depending on my mood, and then recalled again! She also has the potential to fly high. Even when it's the department giving me nightmares, she is the person who is blamed for all my frustrations.
Scotney Watts, thank you very much for your professional research work under difficult circumstances. The office of the Speaker must stop abusing you. I need you in my office.
Lastly, Thenji, my support base for the years I've been a chairperson, thank you for tolerating me. You are the best. I won't exchange you even for 10 more personal assistants. Thank you very much. The ANC supports this Budget Vote.