Mashatile says water infrastructure now top priority for government

Deputy President Paul Mashatile says government’s immediate priority is to address infrastructure challenges in the water sector. He was speaking at the end of the two-day National Water and Sanitation Indaba at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, north of Johannesburg, on Friday.

The Indaba was aimed at highlighting the government’s commitment to tackling South Africa’s water security challenges and ensuring reliable and sustainable water and sanitation services for all.

According to Mashatile, one of the biggest difficulties in accessing quality drinking water is the inadequate infrastructure for water supply and sanitation.

“At this critical juncture and as one of the more immediate priorities of this administration, our resolve is to focus our efforts on improving implementation. Our resolve is to focus our efforts on ensuring that we deliver on infrastructure delivery and implement our plans.”

Mashatile announces that the National Water Task Team will work closely with municipalities across the country to speed up water infrastructure development. This comes at a time when South Africa is battling a water crisis due to ageing infrastructure, vandalism, and corruption.

“As the Water Task Team and supported by the various implementing departments, our philosophy is to focus on improving the speed of execution and finding solutions to the ongoing challenges. Our aim is to strengthen municipal service delivery outcomes, notably their ability to provide essential services. This was also one of the key areas of agreement which emerged from our engagement earlier this year with the South African Local Government Association during their National Executive Committee’s Lekgotla in Cape Town.”

Video: National Water and Sanitation Indaba