‘Worst department’ seeks more money for water projects

THE cash-strapped Water and Sanitation Department has yet again pleaded poverty before Parliament, saying it needs more money to go ahead with crucial water projects.

On Wednesday, Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu in his report before Parliament painted a grim picture of state departments, including the Water and Sanitation Department, which incurred disclosed unauthorised expenditure of R526million.

Yesterday, the department appeared before Parliament’s standing committee on appropriations to request adjustments to its 2018/19 budget so it can meet 46% of promises made for this financial year.

The department’s acting directorgeneral, Deborah Mochotlhi, said: “This financial year we need R4.5 billion, that is the deficit we have. The money is needed for specific projects.

“There are projects that have been running over years. Some have run out of funds.

“There are also projects that we need to start, but we can’t because of the lack of funds,” said Mochotlhi.

The AG’s report revealed that R392m (75% of the money overspent) resulted from the exceeded budget for goods and services, and payments for the war on leaks programme.

The department, however, said it needed more money for its water projects, with some having stagnated for years due to a lack of funds.

“Water and sanitation projects are expensive, they run into the billions. If that is not taken care of, it becomes problematic,” said Mochotlhi.

The committee was, however, not convinced of the department’s management of funds. For the current financial year, the department has received R12.5bn.

Committee chairperson Yvonne Phosa said: “The targets you set for yourself are not realistic. You’ll come again in the next quarter to find that you haven’t achieved your targets…

“So far (your department) it is described as the worst department in terms of financial and non-financial performance.”