October 14, 2005
By Lucky Sindane
OPERATION Gcin'amanzi, Joburg Water's multibillion-rand project to upgrade water infrastructure in Soweto, was praised at the two-day Gauteng Water Summit in Midrand.
The summit kicked off on Thursday, 13 October at Gallagher Estate in Midrand.
Its objectives were to share experiences, lessons and best practice regarding water services and water resource issues; to identify the key challenges facing delivery of sustainable water resources and water services in the province; to share ideas and develop specific strategies; and set up an action plan to deal with these issues.
Speaking about Operation Gcin'amanzi, the Gauteng MEC for local government, Qedani Mahlangu, said the City of Johannesburg, together with Joburg Water, had come up with a creative way to save water.
"A common trend across all municipalities has been declining maintenance budgets, and the results of this become very evident when leaks in a particular area become a daily occurrence - and more so when the same pipe has to be continuously repaired.
"Operation Gcin'amanzi has saved billions of litres of water, a most scarce and precious resource that gets wasted daily, and to give people free six kilolitres of water monthly, and that those who are able to pay for water consumed do so," she added.
Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Buyelwa Sonjica said her department supported Operation Gcin'amanzi. "I am convinced that the pre-paid metres installed in Soweto as part of this project have been substantially modified to be totally user friendly."
Sonjica also congratulated the Gauteng provincial government for having delivered a basic water supply to 2,3 million people who lived in houses that were previously not served, as well as for providing basic sanitation to five million households.
"Good management of operations is critical if we are to avoid not only dry taps, blocked toilets and polluted rivers, but more specifically to prevent the outbreak of water-borne diseases such as typhoid and cholera," she said.
Some Gauteng municipalities are faced with problems of management of sewage and treatment works and water purification plants.
"It is the responsibility of each municipality to ensure proper planning, budgeting and management of such structures to prevent service delivery breakdowns, pollution incidents and worst of all, endanger the health of its communities," Sonjica said.
She encouraged consumers to be careful and efficient in the way they used water.
"South Africa is a very dry country. [Our] rainfall is far below that of other countries. We are defined as a water-scarce country.
"We also need to protect the quality of our water because once it is polluted there is nowhere else to go for alternative supplies," Sonjica concluded.
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