“The situation is very dire, we are closing in on day zero, this is a grave threat to the livelihood of the people hence we are intervening. We need technical skills to resolve the water situation, not politics.”
This is according to the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, who with the intention of mitigating the effect of severe drought, resolving water availability challenges, and averting the imminent failure of the system in Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBMM), together with his Deputy David Mahlobo, engaged Amatola Water Board, business sector, municipal and provincial leadership in Gqeberha.
“The emptiness of the dams and overall water scarcity in Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality is nothing short of a horror,” said Minister Mchunu.
He instructed the technocrats led by Water and Sanitation Director-General Dr Sean Phillips, Pam Yako interim chairperson of Amatola Water Board and Eugene Johnson, Executive Mayor of the metro to caucus and conceive sustainable ideas of improving the water situation and possibly avoiding the dreaded “day zero”.
Subsequent to a short deliberation from the technocrats as per Minister Mchunu’s instruction, the following were agreed upon: water consumption needs to be reduced to 230 megalitres per day as a matter of urgency; aggressive communication strategy employed to conscientize the public to ensure that water usage is kept at minimal levels; metering should be implemented immediately; and water leakage management needs to be accelerated and prioritised.
Minister Mchunu also announced that the department was intervening through Section 63 of the Water Services Act, 108 of 1997 at Nelson Mandela Bay Metro and appointed Amatola Water as an implementing agent.
This means that the Department will take leadership of water and sanitation projects to resolve water challenges that are currently taking place. Deputy Minister Mahlobo indicated that through Section 63 the department will not be taking over but they will be working closely with everyone concerned such as municipalities and water boards. He further stated that leadership needs to be single minded.
‘’Rise to the occasion, we can’t play games with the lives of the people; let us stop exposing our people to situations where their existence is going to be threatened,” said Deputy Minister Mahlobo.
Minister Mchunu reiterated that the department was going to form a formidable partnership with Amatola Water as an implementing agent and he was confident that day zero would be averted. He further pleaded with water users to refrain from consuming more water than the municipality can provide.
