Rising to the occasion during the pandemic
AS A constitutional state, there are certain rights in our Constitution that are incontrovertible in relation to which the government bears the responsibility to promote in order to provide basic services to all South Africans.
One such inalienable right, which severely affects the public, is that of access to water especially during this tumultuous period of the second wave of Covid-19.
By all accounts, last year was the most disastrous year that tested the extent of our commitment to the tenets of the Constitution and the extraordinary lengths to which we are willing to go to protect everyone across the political, economic and social divide.
In a semi-arid country like South Africa, where some communities continue to go without water, the provision of this life-giving resource should serve as a barometer to assess the government’s commitment to ameliorate the people’s plight, and to protect them from the deadliest of the viruses the world has known.
The past year is a blatant reminder of what the world could be like if the necessary safeguards are not taken to protect people who remain susceptible to calamities.
This is particularly important given that the lack of access to water is demonstrably having dire consequences for many communities.
Lack of water impairs people’s dignity and leaves them exposed to all sorts of hardships.
Communities that do not enjoy the right to proper water supply stand little to no chance to be protected from calamities such as Covid-19.
As a country facing enormous challenges of lack of water, coupled with the mushrooming of densely populated informal settlements, there is an urgent need to move with speed to change the plight of the people for the better.
Working against the tide of the coronavirus, the Department of Water and Sanitation has enhanced the provision of sustainable and reliable water supply and sanitation services. The department had a target of reaching 95 254 households in the 2019/20 financial year, which it did not only meet but exceeded by 406 987 to reach 502 221 households.
After the declaration of the National State of Disaster in response to Covid19, the department ensured adequate water supply and proper sanitation services as it undertook initiatives such as establishing the National Command Centre at Rand Water to co-ordinate the efforts of the sector to respond with urgency to the threat posed by the disease.
Notably, as part of the Covid-19 intervention programme, 354 water tankers (trucks) and 7645 water tanks were deployed by the department and Rand Water to meet the needs that were identified in all nine provinces, with a budget allocation of R506 million.
The upshot was that water tanks were delivered to 158 municipalities and districts between March 28 and August 31 last year, with 355 251km covered to date and 1 335 million litres of water delivered with an average daily volume of 9.87 million litres. About 407 665 households and 1 723 369 citizens received water.
Furthermore, 125 000 hand sanitisers, 212 160 surgical gloves, 24 000 masks and other personal protective equipment and hygiene supplies were distributed.
In a joint effort, the Department of Basic Education and Rand Water procured and distributed 2 640 water tanks to 2 509 schools in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, the
North West, the Free Sate and Mpumalanga.
An entity of the department, the Magalies Water Board distributed water daily to 26 areas in and around Thabazimbi Local Municipality, 43 villages in the Madibeng Local Municipality that required 129 water tanks with a capacity of 10 000 litres as well as to the Modimolle-Mookgophong Local Municipality where five areas were given about 15 10 000 litres of water tank containers.
Other places that benefited from the efforts are 14 areas in the Moretele Local Municipality and the City of Tshwane’s three regions where 53 areas required water tanks and water tankers.
Another entity of the department, the Overberg Water Board, ensured that Covid-19 protocols were kept when it distributed and installed 401 water tanks with a capacity of between 2 500 to 10 000 litres.
As much as last year was largely one that must be put in the rear-view mirror of the nation, it is a year that shows how an unwavering commitment to the constitutional imperatives of providing basic services can cushion communities and ward off a calamity from claiming the lives of the people for its own.