War on Leaks aids youth

THE Department of Water and Sanitation’s War on Leaks Programme (WoL) is on the receiving end of some heavy criticism as being ill-conceived, a waste of taxpayers’ money and, worse, leaving many trainees high and dry.

Without discounting the challenges raised, especially by trainees, the programme’s overall impact has been significant. Trainees have every right to point out the challenges to the department to be dealt with swiftly and effectively.

Some issues include non-payment of trainees’ stipend and non-placement of those who have completed the training programme.

In this regard, Minister Gugile Nkwinti is reprioritising some of the department’s major projects to allow other crucial projects such the WoL to continue. In his budget speech in May, Nkwinti said there was to reprioritise and streamline spending by reducing unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

Minister Nkwinti said: “We also have to deal with the realities of budgetary constraints. In certain instances, contracts without value have been entered into, posing difficulty in accurate budgeting via proper project management.”

On the strength of the minister’s intervention, the department prioritised the transfer of funds to Rand Water, the programme’s implementing agent, to pay the trainees the outstanding payments for May and June. Minister Nkwinti’s priority is to ensure there is no recurrence of non-payment of stipends.

Acutely aware of water losses, the department had to think long and hard how to save the limited water resources we have – the WoL is one of the responses. Thus, contrary to branding the programme ill-conceived, it is not a knee-jerked response but a well thought out plan of action to prevent water losses that cost the country over R7.2 billion a year. This is a staggering figure for unaccounted water as a direct result of leakages.

Given the magnitude in rand terms of this non-revenue water, the WoL not only addresses non-revenue, but also deal with the high youth unemployment rate. The programme is so designed that besides being aligned to vacancies, trainees can take advantage of entrepreneurship opportunities. With the skills they acquire, they can provide an alternative to established companies, serving small and remote communities.

To resolve the challenges, the department is working on an exit strategy for the trainees who have completed the training. These include entrepreneurship, formal employment or community work. However, the department is also alive to the fact that enterprise development is critical if these youths are to become competitors to the established companies and create work opportunities.

One area that could be beneficial to the youth is doing community work on a voluntary basis and later exploit emerging entrepreneurship and employment opportunities.

The WoL is a necessary programme that cannot be allowed to fail. It is a tool for young people to use as a springboard to achieve greater things. Also, to prevent the loss of life-giving water we cannot afford to be without.