The Department of Water and Sanitation has dismissed claims that it is intervening in the longstanding challenge of raw sewage spillages into the Vaal River as a ploy to campaign for next year’s Local Government Elections.
The department on Wednesday said it acknowledges the severity of the problem posed by the sewage spillages and the time it has taken to deal with its negative impact on Gauteng’s Emfuleni Local Municipality, as well as those in neighbouring provinces.
“However, it is disingenuous to conflate the department’s continuing intervention work with the upcoming Local Government Elections next year.
“The department is a custodian of water resources in the country and its mandate is to carry out the service delivery imperatives of achieving equity and redistribution of water resources in line with government goals,” the department said in a statement.
The DWS is also mandated to safeguard the country’s scarce water resources and water ecosystems.
The department said it respects the Constitution’s principle of separation of powers.
“Accordingly, the department is not an electioneering tool and does not participate in any party political campaigning.
“To deal with the sewage spillages, the department has finalised the scope of all that needs to be done to solve the challenges referred to. Twenty-six work packages will be advertised in the coming weeks for competent contractors to be part of solving the protracted sewage challenges,” the department said.
In the current financial year, the department has committed R911 million towards solving the sewage spillage challenge.
The total investment by the department in the 2020/21 financial year is R1.2 billion for work, including the building of additional wastewater treatment capacity and associated pump stations.
“This is purely government work that has to be undertaken to improve the living and working conditions of all the affected communities.
“It has nothing whatsoever to do with positioning itself or anyone for political electioneering.
“The statement about the department’s involvement in party political campaigning is therefore unfortunate and only serves to stoke the fires of disenchantment amongst community members.
“Such statements are designed to perpetuate the already volatile environment as community protests increase, leading to unnecessary work stoppages, and even longer time to resolve the matter,” the department said.
The department called on those peddling the electioneering claims to desist from such conduct and to “put the interests of the affected communities before theirs”. – SAnews.gov.za
