Water Services Amendment Bill: Mpumalanga, North West and Limpopo Provincial Public Hearings Report; Water Research Commission disciplinary matter

Video The Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation considered a combined report on public hearings on the Water Services Amendment Bill held in Mpumalanga, North West and Limpopo. Members debated whether the report should be considered before hearings had been completed in all nine provinces. Some favoured postponing consideration, while others supported reviewing the submissions while they remained fresh and referring urgent service delivery concerns to the relevant institutions. The Committee agreed to note the document as a draft sub-report, rather than adopt it as a final report. It would form part of a consolidated report once all provincial hearings had been completed. The presentation recorded 120 speakers in Mpumalanga, 167 in North West and 78 in Limpopo, with support for the Bill exceeding opposition across the three provinces. Support centred on licensing water services providers, stronger regulatory oversight, accountability, enforcement and professionalisation of the sector. Opposing submissions raised concerns about possible privatisation, affordability, municipal responsibilities and whether the amendments would address the underlying causes of poor service delivery. Specific proposals concerned licensing timeframes and conditions, ministerial intervention powers, community representation in governance structures and individual liability. Members requested corrections and additions to the report, including concerns about continuity of water supply following the suspension or revocation of licences. They emphasised that statistics should distinguish between people who attended the hearings and those who made submissions. Members also requested that the report explicitly capture illegal river diversions, boreholes reportedly affected by mining, unused infrastructure, interrupted supply from Magalies Water and housing-related service delivery concerns. They questioned whether licensing alone could address infrastructure failures, corruption, inadequate municipal capacity and weak consequence management. Members expressed concern that many attendees had come to raise immediate water and sanitation complaints without sufficiently understanding the Bill. They proposed stronger public education before future hearings, brief explanations of the Bill at the start of proceedings, and accessible information in different languages and formats. The Committee requested information on the public education activities undertaken and the number of people reached. The report would be amended to incorporate Members’ inputs, and detailed referrals would be prepared for the relevant parliamentary committees. The Committee also noted a request from the Chief Executive Officer of the Water Research Commission for intervention in a disciplinary matter. The Chairperson reported that legal advice indicated that the Committee should not intervene in the proceedings, although it would monitor developments. Members emphasised that disciplinary processes should be concluded without undue delay because prolonged proceedings could affect public finances, organisational performance and staff morale.