SONA Impact on Water sector; DWS Q2 & 3 2024/25 Performance; with Ministry

2025 SONA The Minister of Water and Sanitation spoke to the Department's progress in addressing water and sanitation challenges, which was identified as top priority in the State of the Nation Address (SONA). She expressed concerns about resource allocation and announced the identification of 100 municipalities in a critical state, with plans to develop turnaround strategies for them. The Minister provided updates on dam levels, flood impacts, and infrastructure projects, including the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, which has faced delays. She announced plans for a national water and sanitation indaba to engage stakeholders and secure private sector partnerships, with R23 billion already secured out of a targeted R100 billion. The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) presented its response to the SONA imperatives saying it welcomed the emphasis on water and sanitation. DWS will continue to implement its national water resources infrastructure projects expeditiously. DWS is busy with the preparatory work for the full establishment of the National Water Resource Infrastructure Agency (NWRIA). The work that DWS has been doing on reforms of municipal water and sanitation services, through its draft amendments to the Water Services Act, is aligned to the SONA statements on reform of these services. DWS will be working closely with the Presidency, COGTA, National Treasury and SALGA to implement the phase two Operation Vulindlela reforms. The reintroduction of the Blue Drop, Green Drop, and No Drop reports were noted to assess water and sanitation services. This was to address growing non-compliance in microbiological water quality. Other challenges were technical capacity gaps and aging infrastructure with non-revenue water losses increasing to 47%. DWS is working on infrastructure projects, including the uMkhomazi Water Project and the raising of the Clanwilliam Dam, with R38 billion approved for water resource infrastructure. DWS provided its 2024/25 Quarter 2 and 3 performance report noting that 65% of targets were achieved in the third quarter, with spending at 72% of the budget. Importantly it provided an overview of its financial recovery plan and audit performance as well as detailed information on grant funding expenditure in provinces. It detailed efforts to address irregular expenditure and improve financial management, including the implementation of a Construction Efficiency Improvement Strategic Plan. Committee members raised concerns about discrepancies in the presentation slides, delays in the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, and the need for better infrastructure management and water quality compliance. The Minister and Deputy Ministers emphasized the DWS commitment to addressing these challenges through collaboration with municipalities, private sector partnerships, and innovative financing models.