DEPARTMENT OF WATER AFFAIRS, UMGENI WATER & UMHLATUZE WATER JOIN HANDS

TO BRIEF MEDIA ON NATIONAL WATER ACTIVITIES

On 12th

March 2014 the Department of Water Affairs, Umgeni Water and Umhlatuze Water held a joint media briefing on the banks of

Blue Lagoon in Durban to outline each entity’s activities for National Water Week, which began on 17th March 2014 and will end on 23

rd

March 2014.

The Chief Director of the Department of Water Affairs in Durban, Ashley Starkey; the Chief Executive of Umgeni Water, Cyril Gamede,

and the Chief Executive of Umhlatuze Water, Sibusiso Makhanya, all gave a general overview of their organisation’s progress with

regards to Capex projects. In addition, Starkey presented a synopsis of DWA’s National Water Resource Strategy (Water for an

Equitable and Sustainable Future) to the audience, while Gamede, in his introduction, spoke about why people should respect water.

After the presentations questions were raised by various media. Questions pertained to what has been described in the Durban media

as a looming water crisis, and progress with desalination as an option to enhance assurance of future supply – all of which were

responded to adequately.

The theme for this year’s National Water Week is “Celebrating 20 years of water delivery for Socio-Economic Development”. This

theme dovetails neatly with South Africa’s 20 years of democracy – which is a celebration of the present Government’s successes in

service delivery, including the provision of water. In order to further fast track water services delivery in parts of Eastern Cape and

Northern KwaZulu-Natal – the Provinces that have the highest and second-highest water backlogs in South Africa respectively – the

Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs has proposed, as a legislative imperative, the extension of Umgeni Water’s area of

operation to include:

Eastern Cape: areas that fall under the jurisdiction of Alfred Nzo District Municipality and parts of OR Tambo District

Municipality (Ingquza Hill Local Municipality)

Northern KwaZulu-Natal: areas that fall under the jurisdiction of Amajuba District Municipality; uThukela District Municipality

and Umzinyathi District Municipality. This will effectively lead to the takeover of the functions of uThukela Water

The extension of Umgeni Water’s service area will result in the organisation becoming a fully-fledged Regional Water Utility.

Staff should look out for a detailed plan to commemorate Umgeni Water’s 40th anniversary. This will be published on Thru the

Pipeline and the intranet.

ISSUED BY: CORPORATE STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT UNIT AT HEAD OFFICE