Question to the Minister of Water and Sanitation - NW1708

14 August 2018 - NW1708

Khawula, Ms MS to ask the Minister of Water and Sanitation

(1)(a) What total amount of land owned by his department and the entities reporting to him in each province is (i) vacant and (ii) unused or has no purpose and (b) what is the (i) location and (ii) size of each specified plot of land; (2) (a) how much of the land owned by his department and the entities reporting to him has been leased out for private use and (b) what is the (i) Rand value of each lease and (ii)(aa) location and (bb) size of each piece of land?

Source
Link

Reply:

(1)(a) In terms of Section 1(1)(x) of the National Water Act, 1998 (Act no. 36 of 1998) (NWA) the Department owns the land on which a government waterworks is situated. The Department owns, manages and controls 320 state own dams (government waterworks) country wide. The extent of the land required is determined scientifically up to the dam boundary line of each dam which includes the full supply level, the 1:100 year flood line and a buffer line. In terms of GIAMA, the disposal policies of the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and the National Department of Public Works (NDPW) the excess land must be transferred to NDPW. The Minister only acquires the minimum land required for the government waterworks in order to manage, operate and maintain the dams. In relation to ownership, the Minister has exclusive rights on the land within the government waterworks and the water source is regarded as national assets which must be protected in terms of the NWA. Refer to Annexure A for the amount of land owned by the entities.

(1)(b) Refer to Annexure A for the amount of land owned by the entities.

(2)(a) The Department currently does not have existing legal lease agreements in place as they have expired. However, the Department is currently in the process of appointing a Service Provider to develop a policy that will be used when dealing with leasing of land within the government waterworks. It is anticipated that the policy will be finalised by November 2018 and the leasing of land within the government waterworks will therefore resume.

(2)(b) Refer to Annexure A for the amount of land owned by the entities that have been leased out.