Water should be supplied through pipes, not trucks – Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa says there is no dignity if people are forced to stand in the street waiting for trucks to deliver water to them.

Speaking at the Water and Sanitation Indaba held at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand on Thursday, Ramaphosa said water should be supplied through pipes instead of trucks. 

He said there are business schemes where they cut water supply lines to create businesses for themselves. “There are people who make it their business to go and cut water lines to create businesses for themselves. That is the criminality that has now entered the water space. And this is what we must collectively talk about here and find ways of bringing that to an end,” said Ramaphosa. 

He said businessmen in fancy cars have no business delivering water to residents through water trucking businesses. 

“They make sure that there is failure by the local authorities to deliver water, leading to the alternative of relying on them [trucks] to transport water, because they make money out of transporting water. There is no dignity for our people to be standing alongside the streets for water from a truck where somebody is making money,” Ramaphosa explained. 

He also condemned municipalities and water boards who have been linked to corruption through various investigations. 

“At a local government level, financial mismanagement, insufficient revenue collection systems and high levels of physical water losses are compounding existing service delivery problems,” he said. 

However, Ramaphosa has also commended the work by the department of water and sanitation for the work done in the past 30 years. 

“In 2022, access to clean water stood at 88,5%, and access to improved sanitation stood at 80,7 %. One contrasts this to the apartheid legacy where by 1994, approximately 30% of the population lacked access to adequate water supply, and more than 50% were without adequate sanitation. 

“The department of water and sanitation is to be commended for its ongoing efforts to improve water and sanitation access in our country,” he said. 

He said solving the water and sanitation challenges necessities deepened collaboration between all stakeholders in the water resources management ecosystem. 

“There needs to be greater cooperation between national and provincial governments, the water resource management entities, and the private sector to support the turnaround in water stewardship. Much of this focus must be on supporting service delivery at local government level, where it matters the most.  

 “Structural reforms in the water sector, as vital as they are, cannot be effectively implemented without local government being strengthened,” Ramaphosa said. 

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