6th Parliament Water & Sanitation Committee Legacy Report

Water and Sanitation The Committee considered the Sixth Parliament Water and Sanitation Committee Legacy Report. The report indicated that the 6th Term started in July 2019 with significant challenges due to leadership vacancies and the amalgamation with Human Settlements. However, the separation of the two sectors in August 2021 eventually allowed for improved performance and stability by the end of the Sixth Term. The report discussed the work of the Portfolio from July 2019 and May 2024. Key achievements included three Committee training workshops conducted by the Department of Water and Sanitation, National Treasury, Auditor General South Africa and the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation. The Committee conducted systematic oversight on the financial and non-financial performance of the Department. The Sixth Parliament Committee noted infrastructure maintenance failure and growing concerns of the high vacancy rate at senior positions including Director General, Deputy Director General, scientist and engineers. The Committee oversaw the reintroduction and publication of Blue, Green and No drop reports and the publication of the National Resources Strategy. Moreover, The Committee completed processing the National Resources Infrastructure Agency Bill. The report noted key achievements in financial performance with a huge improvement in 2022/23. The report noted the key challenges that the Department is currently faced with that include access to water and sanitation, transformation of water sector, delay in the implementation of consequence management, lack of sustainable infrastructure and poor implementation of bulk infrastructure and toilets; debt management by municipalities, pollution of water resources and lack of technical and financial capacity. Matters for consideration include dysfunctional wastewater treatment, sustainable debt management, oversight and bucket toilet eradication. The report outlined recommendations to strengthen Committee work in the Seventh term. Committee members engaged on the Legacy Report extensively. A main concern was access to water in South Africa. Infrastructure is there, however, people still cannot access water. There were concerns on municipal debt management. The Committee stated the Department must intervene. There should be strict regulations that municipalities have to follow. Committee members stressed oversight. They suggested that there be a tracking tool like the blue, green drop and no-drop assessment to track the oversight work of the Committee. The Committee noted water pollution by the mining industry should be addressed. On consequence management, the Committee stated that corruption and malfunction in the Department must end and the people responsible must be arrested. Committee members suggested for a three-day workshop with the Department of Water and Sanitation, Human Settlements, CoGTA, National Treasury and institutions of higher learning, where these matters will be discussed extensively.