On Tuesday, 2 April, Minister of Water and Sanitation Gugile Nkwinti announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the department, the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority. According to the department, this signals a new approach to procurement and project management processes of major water projects in the country.

This memorandum of understanding will allow the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority to manage projects including the Giyani Water project, the Nandoni Nsani Pipeline, the Vaal Gamagara project and the Tzaneen Dam.

The department’s renewed efforts coincided with two visits made to the Vaal region by the department and the South African Human Rights Commission.

The Vaal River system is an example of an area where wastewater treatment plants have collapsed, resulting in sewage spillages into the river catchment and people’s homes. This led to the deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to the area to help fix the system.

In 2010, Engineering News reported that South Africa would need R23-billion to prevent the collapse of the country’s wastewater treatment plants. This was according to the Green Drop report released by then Department of Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica. However, the full report has not been released almost a decade later. A summary of the report was last released in 2013.

The two-day site inspection to the wastewater treatment plants in the Vaal was begun by the South African Human Rights Commission on Thursday, 4 April 2019. The commission launched an inquiry into the contamination of the Vaal River in 2018. On 2o February 2019, as reported by Daily Maverick, the commission held the final sitting of the inquiry, at which the SANDF said progress was being stalled by financial constraints.

The situation was no different during the commission’s site inspection on Thursday. Head of the sanitation project SANDF Colonel Andries Mahapa told the commission that they had used R61-million from their budget to remedy the situation. Despite this, only 20% of the water has been treated and made safe for consumption since their deployment. He said more work could have been done if funds had been made available, as promised by the department.

After the SAHRC visit, minister Nkwinti and Minister of Defence Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula went to the wastewater treatment plants – Sebokeng and Boitumelo – being repaired by the army to gauge the progress.

Speaking at a media briefing, Nkwinti announced that the department would allocate another R341-million to the Vaal River project. In addition, an implementation protocol was signed on 29 March between various stakeholders including the department itself, the Gauteng Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Emfuleni local municipality, the SANDF, the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent and the East Rand Water Care Company.

“We’ve put together a steering committee that is involving water and sanitation, COGTA in the province and the two municipalities (Sedibeng district and Emfuleni) so that we can pull together the resources we have. So that the costs incurred by the defence force are covered by us as a collective,” Nkwinti said.

Even though the army told the human rights commission that the project would cost R1.1-billion, Nkwinti said the department could at present provide only R341-million. The rest of the funds would be made available through joint efforts between role players that had signed the implementation protocol.

The SANDF is set to complete the Vaal wastewater treatment plants repairs by March 2020. However, there are concerns about the preservation and maintenance of the plants after the project is completed. Nkwinti said the memorandum of understanding was intended as an instrument to change the present model of delivering water and sanitation.

“We are responsible for water and sanitation. So far as provision is concerned, we are responsible for bulk, but the reticulation and distribution are the responsibility of water service authorities, either districts or local municipalities. We assume the municipalities have the capacity, but they don’t. We need to manage the resources (better),” said Nkwinti.

Mpumalanga, too has been battling spillages at wastewater treatment plants. Nkomazi, Lekwa and Govan Mbeki local municipalities have similar issues. Recently an inquiry was launched by the provincial human rights commission. Another such example is the Makhanda water crisis in Eastern Cape. GroundUp also reported that Hartebeesport Dam has had raw sewage flowing into it because of breakdowns at Madibeng municipal treatment works.

“There are many areas where we have similar challenges. The spillage and all the challenges you see now here in the Vaal River are not just as a result of the surrounding areas of Vaal. If you look at Mpumalanga, which has a challenge of sewerage, we know that everything which comes from there is delivered here. The same applies to Free State, Northern Cape and that is the reason why government saw this as one key priority intervention because what happens in the Vaal River affects all of us,” Mapisa-Nqakula said.

The country’s water challenges can be attributed to various factors ranging from mismanagement, poor maintenance, lack of renovations and infrastructure development and poor inter-departmental engagements. In both inspections, the increasing population and the incapacity of sewage infrastructure to match demand were continually raised.

Though the department of water and sanitation’s efforts to renew water systems and how they are managed is apparent, aspects such as the Green Drop report are key to help regulate and foster accountability.

Even though the Department of Water and Sanitation has warned that South Africa will run out of water by 2030, Nkwinti is positive that the new model for water infrastructure projects will eliminate challenges the country faces in implementing and maintaining water supply and treatment. DM