Water summit to explore investment options

SOUTH Africans continue to waste water, despite the country’s low rainfall.

Shockingly, Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane announced yesterday that South Africans use 235 litres on average each day – 62 litres more than the world average.

The country’s aged infrastructure and poor maintenance were the main contributors to this. Now Mokonyane and her department have invited business to join hands with the government in an effort to turn things around.

A staggering R14 billion would be required for the country to deal with the water infrastructure backlog.

The department, in partnership with the Water Research Commission, will at the end of the month host a water infrastructure investment summit. It will focus on “key investment opportunities, constraints and solutions in the areas of bulk water infrastructure, municipal water infrastructure, and emerging innovations and solutions”.

Investors, funders, project developers, policymakers, regulators and local government will all engage in “a programme of action that aims to shift the water and sanitation sector investment landscape to a space that is open and enabling for investment and inclusive growth opportunities”.

“We are one of the countries that are water constrained – we are one of the driest countries in the world – the 30th, we are told,” according to Mokonyane.

Further attention needed to be turned on 27 district municipalities that were “incapable of managing water and sanitation infrastructure and services”.

She felt that some of them needed to be shut down.

“They are not viable. They have no revenue base. Remember, if you have to provide water, you must also be able to collect money for the water. You have municipalities that depend on conditional grants. The definition of a viable municipality is that it must have a common tax base,” she said.