Questions and Replies

Reply:

(a) The social housing rental projects and/or schemes that have been constructed in municipalities in Gauteng are indicated below:

• City of Tshwane – Three (3) namely Akasia, Little Manhattan and Castle Crest.
• City of Ekhurhuleni – Two (2) namely Delville and Germiston Fire Station, Kempton Village, Carnival Gardens and Sondela
• City Of Johannesburg – Six (6) namely Dobsonville, Plein Street, Turffontein, Devland Extension Two and City Deep,

(i) A total of 14 959 units were completed in twenty (20) projects across the country for the period April 2015 to March 2020.

(ii) Since 1 April 2020, no units were delivered, based on the delays which occurred as a result of the declaration of the National State of Disaster and various associated lockdowns. Further, the period for a development to complete all planning and funding approvals is approximately eighteen (18) to twenty-four (24) months. Post this period a project is implemented, and actual delivery and handover of a unit to a beneficiary takes approximately another twelve (12) months.

(b)(i) The number of the Social Rental Housing projects that were;

(aa) Completed is none as a result of the impact of the declaration of the National State of Disaster.

(bb) Since 01st April 2020 no occupation of units were possible due to the impact of the National State of Disaster. Post the declaration of alert level one, project implementation will continue and once units are completed, they will be tenanted.

(ii) The Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA) have been requested to collate all the information required, and it will be sent to the Honourable Member, as soon as it is received

(c) The current policy requires that 30% of units in a project is allocated to primary beneficiaries which are households with an income of below R5 500. The Social Housing Institution (SHI) is required in terms of the Consolidate Capital Grant to submit tenant audits to the SHRA for verification, which is to ensure that occupation or tenanting of units complies with policy. A SHI is required to advertise the availability of accommodation using various media and communication platforms to allow for qualifying tenants and/or households, to then make application to be provided with an opportunity to rent. All applications are vetted according to the social housing qualification criteria in line with the Social Housing Act and the terms and conditions of the grant award contract.

(d) The unit size allocation versus the household income always creates challenges. The tenants would sign a lease agreement clearly stipulating that the social housing programme is for rental in perpetuity. However, the tenants would demand ownership which is not in keeping the social housing programme.

Reply:

(1)(a) The Nzhelele Water Scheme starts at the site of the Nzhelele Dam. The canal section of the scheme starts 14 km downstream of the dam at coordinates 22°42'13.08"S 30° 6'19.49"E.

(b) The Nzhelele Canal is approximately 69 km in length.

(c) The Nzhelele Canal ends at the Doreen settlement at coordinates 22°29'52.40"S 30°15'5.98"E.

(2) The entire canal was constructed with concrete. The length of the canal is as indicated above in (1)(b).

(3) The Nzhelele Water Scheme was completed in 1960, and the department does not have information relating to the budget and actual costs of the scheme.

Reply:

The town of Aliwal North has a reliable and sustainable water supply. However, the department is aware that the Joe Gqabi District Municipality (JGDM) has water distribution constraints to the extent that there is a moratorium on further developments until the water services are upgraded in line with the recently compiled Aliwal North Water Master Plan. The JGDM has short and medium term plans in line with the District’s Water Services Master Plan to improve water services as follows:

a) Alternative sources such as boreholes and springs are developed and utilised as alternate standby sources.

b) The Aliwal Spa Hot Water Springs have been identified as alternative raw water sources. However, pre-treatment of water from this source is required.

c) Projects for construction of two raw water off-channel storage dams at the water works (MIG funded) and replacement of asbestos cement bulk pipeline and leaking valves (WSIG funded) have already commenced

d) Funding is being sought for further short term plans to:

• Build a new 2 Ml Clear Water Sump and install a high lift pump at the WTW,
• Build a 1,2Ml reservoir and a 400kl elevated tank at the springs; and install a high pressure gravity main.

e) Medium Term Plans:

• Upgrade of WTW by 2,5Ml and installation of a desalination/package plant at the springs,
• Replacement of the old 200mm asbestos cement rising main and upgrade of pump station and main reservoir at the springs.

Reply:

a) Honourable Member, on 02 December 2020, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) conducted an investigation at Clewer in the Emalahleni Local Municipality. The investigation revealed that there was sewage overflow from a manhole located outside a residential property which is flowing into the tributary of Brugspruit River. In accordance with Section 19 (3) and 53 (1) of the National Water Act, the DWS issued a Directive to the Municipality to rectify the non- compliance identified in the area.

 

b) The administrative enforcement action will direct the Municipality to submit and implement an infrastructure rehabilitation plan in order to restore the quality of the water source.

(c) The investigators did not discover any dysfunctional meter system in the area. However, it should be noted that the DWS does not have a mandate to monitor meter systems in the municipality. The legislative mandate of the Department of Water and Sanitation is to ensure that the country’s water resources are protected, managed, used, developed, conserved and controlled in a sustainable manner for the benefit of all people and the environment.

The Water Services Act, 1997 refers to municipalities as Water Service Authorities (WSAs) responsible for distribution (reticulation) of water and to supply sanitation services. The Water Services Act in section 3 outlines the right of access to basic water supply and sanitation which mandates that “everyone has a right of access to basic water supply and basic sanitation” and places the responsibility on Water Services Authorities to ensure that they develop a Water Services Development Plan (WSDP) to ensure the realisation of this right.

Section 11 of the Water Services Act, 1997 mandates that “every Water Services Authority has the duty to all consumers or potential consumers in its area of jurisdiction to progressively ensure efficient, affordable, economical and sustainable access to water services.”

Reply:

The COVID-19 Water intervention Programme (Phase 1) supplied about 1 335 million litres of water to targeted communities in the period between 28 March and 31 August 2020. These communities were thus provided with an interim form of water supply to assist the Water Services Authorities (municipalities) in their areas of jurisdiction. This intervention allowed these communities to have access to water to allow for hand washing and other hygiene purposes.

As a means to improve the sustainability and efficacy of these interventions, an allocation of R689 million from the Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG) was made directly to the relevant municipalities to connect the tanks to water sources and ensure sustainable water supply.

Further, it should be noted that the legislative mandate of the Department of Water and Sanitation is to ensure that the country’s water resources are protected, managed, used, developed, conserved and controlled in a sustainable manner for the benefit of all people and the environment.

The Water Services Act, 1997 refers to municipalities as Water Service Authorities (WSAs) responsible for distribution (reticulation) of water and to supply sanitation services. The Water Services Act in section 3 outlines the right of access to basic water supply and sanitation which mandates that “everyone has a right of access to basic water supply and basic sanitation” and places the responsibility on Water Services Authorities to ensure that they develop a Water Services Development Plan (WSDP) to ensure the realisation of this right.

Section 11 of the Water Services Act, 1997 mandates that “every Water Services Authority has the duty to all consumers or potential consumers in its area of jurisdiction to progressively ensure efficient, affordable, economical and sustainable access to water services.”

 

Reply:

(1)(a)(b) I have been informed that the National Department of Human Settlements, the Community Schemes Ombud Service, the Estate Agency Affairs Board, the National Housing Finance Corporation, the National Home Builders Registration Council, the Social Housing Regulatory Authority, and the Housing Development Agency have not awarded any tenders to the company referred to by the Honourable Member during the period 1 May 2019 to31 October 2020.

(2) Falls away.

Reply:

Three privately owned land parcels measuring 26.7471 hectares in Mamelodi Township were acquired to accommodate inter alia the Mamelodi flood victims. To date 155 households who mainly resided in churches and schools were relocated into permanent serviceable stands on a part of the acquired land parcels.

Reply:

The eThekwini Metropolitan municipality has conducted pre-feasibility studies (Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study and Geo-technical study and Land Ownership) on the occupied land of Foreman and Punters informal settlements and the findings reveal that it is not feasible to develop the two informal settlements. Consequently, the process of land acquisition for the privately owned adjacent land is being undertaken to plan and develop. However, the incremental services are provided to the informal settlement.

Foreman and Punters Informal settlements is undevelopable due to unstable soil condition and people will be relocated to Cornubia Phase 2. Feasibility studies were conducted and the settlements are B2 categories according to the National Upgrade Support Programme (NUSP) which means that these will be complete relocations. The beneficiaries list is not approved, however there are ring fenced lists for both settlements which are used to monitor and ensure that these settlements are not growing.

These settlements have electricity, water standpipes and ablution facilities. The City assists the victims in cases of disaster incidents. Cornubia phase 2 project is currently at tender stage for services. The relocation is anticipated to commence by June 2022.

Reply:

(1)(a) The Department of Water and Sanitation is regulating the mining companies through Water Use Authorisations (WUAs) as required by the National Water Act 36 of 1998. The WUAs impose conditions that promote sustainable and beneficial use of water resources. On an annual basis the Department undertakes compliance monitoring audits of the WUAs issued. The Department has developed a scoring system that is intended to assist in assessing compliance levels of the mining mines (see Table 1 below).

The level of compliance differs according to technical and administrative conditions. Mines that achieve scores of 50% or more are considered to be showing improvements in compliance. Mines that score less than 50% are regarded as having unacceptable level of compliance and are subjected to the enforcement process. The Department conducted compliance monitoring audits on four-hundred and seventy-six (476) mines from 2015/16 to 2019/20 financial years: Of the 476 mines audited, a total of one hundred and fifty-five (155) mines have scored less than 50% of compliance.

Table1: Score card

Score	Condition	Description
75-100%	Acceptable	Technical conditions are met in most circumstances; few administration actions should be undertaken.  Request proof of compliance electronically.
50-74%	Good but at risk	The implementation of water use conditions are implemented with several actions still outstanding.  Action plan required to ensure full compliance. Follow up audit required.
25-49%	Not acceptable	Compliance meets less than half of the substantive implementation and administrative actions in the license. Action plan required to ensure full compliance. Follow up audit required. Decision to be taken on improvement of compliance. If so, follow-up audit scheduled, if not, hand over for enforcement action.
0-24%	Not acceptable	User meets minimal conditions, both implementation and administrative actions in the license.  Decision to be taken if non-compliance is potentially or detrimental or fatal to water resource.  If fatal, hand over for enforcement action, if not an action plan required to ensure compliance. Follow up audit required and scheduled.

 

(b) Honourable Member, the document titled “Guide to Parliamentary Questions in the National Assembly” prohibits Members of Parliament, including Members of the Executive, from providing names of people or companies. The document referred to states that:

“Questions are to be framed as concisely as possible. All unnecessary adjectives, references and quotations are omitted. Names of persons, bodies and, for example, newspapers are only used in questions if the facts surrounding the case have been proven. As the mere mention of such names could be construed as publicity for or against them, it should be clear that this practice is highly undesirable. If a question will be unintelligible without mentioning such names, the Departments concerned are notified of the name (-s) and this phrase is used: ".......a certain person (name furnished)”

(2) Since April 2015, the DWS undertook numerous administrative enforcement actions against mines that were found to have contravened the requirements of the National Water Act. The Department also issued a total number of two hundred and twenty-six (226) administrative actions and opened nine (9) criminal cases against non-compliant mines. Only fifty-two (52) of the two hundred and twenty-six (226) mines issued with administrative actions have water use authorizations. Subsequent to the enforcement actions by the DWS, forty-five (45) mines are in compliance with the requirements of the administrative actions. To date, no water use entitlements have been suspended or revoked due to non-compliance. However, this remains an option in case the administrative, civil and criminal processes do not achieve desired compliance.

Reply:

Mopani District Municipality as the Water Services Authority is responsible for providing water to the residents of Giyani through existing unreliable infrastructure augmented by completed boreholes and water carting. The replacement of the unreliable bulk water distribution system to 55 villages is in progress. Completion of the various projects is anticipated from March 2021 until March 2022. Two of the bulk distribution pipelines to Giyani town and 4 villages (Thomo, Mninginisi Block 2, Mhlava and Muyexe) are partially completed and under operation. These pipelines will be fully functional by March 2021. The bulk water pipeline that will convey water from Nandoni water supply scheme to augment water supply in Giyani is anticipated to be completed by August 2022.

It should be noted that the water supply to Giyani villages is not reliable due to ageing infrastructure and unauthorized connections. The condition of the infrastructure results in pipe bursts and water leakages. This has necessitated interventions to replace the dilapidated of 325km bulk pipelines and the Nandoni to Nsami pipeline project to ensure sustainable water supply. To date, 300km asbestos cement (AC) pipelines have been replaced with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipelines to curb water losses and enhance water supply efficiency. The installed bulk pipelines are not yet operational pending completion of ancillaries, pressure testing and commissioning for the completed sections.

Reply:

(1) Honourable Member, the document titled “Guide to Parliamentary Questions in the National Assembly” prohibits Members of Parliament, including Members of the Executive, from providing names of people or companies. The document referred to states that:

“Questions are to be framed as concisely as possible. All unnecessary adjectives, references and quotations are omitted. Names of persons, bodies and, for example, newspapers are only used in questions if the facts surrounding the case have been proven. As the mere mention of such names could be construed as publicity for or against them, it should be clear that this practice is highly undesirable. If a question will be unintelligible without mentioning such names, the Departments concerned are notified of the name (-s) and this phrase is used: ".......a certain person (name furnished)”

Department of Water and Sanitation:

(2) Members of the NRRTT for Water and Sanitation are appointed in terms of Section 76(1) of the National Water Services Act.

(3) No travel allowances are provided for members of the NRRTT. However, Members of the NRRTT can submit claims when they have utilised own transport to undertake official duties.

(4) No bonuses were paid to members of the NRRTT. They are only remunerated for the hours worked, in keeping with the rates determined by the Minister for Public Service and Administration.

Department of Human Settlements:

(2) Appointments were done additional to the establishment as per Public Services Regulations.

(3) The members are remunerated at a daily rate of R5 549 per day for a maximum of 20 days per month for the Chairperson and the Deputy Chairperson and at a daily rate of R4 317 per day for a maximum of 12 days per month for all the other members.

Each payable on submission of individual monthly claims, substantiated with meetings attended (register) and reports on actual work done.

The Department has made a cellular phone allowance available to the members on a monthly basis, to the value of R1 200.00 per month on submission of valid invoice within 30 days, as per Departmental Cellular Phone Policy.

(4) There are no bonuses applicable to members of the National Rapid Response Task Team on Human Settlements.

Reply:

(1) Water supply to Giyani villages is not reliable due to ageing infrastructure and unauthorized connections. The condition of the infrastructure results in frequent pipe bursts and water leakages. This has necessitated interventions to replace the dilapidated of 325km bulk pipelines and the Nandoni to Nsami pipeline project to ensure sustainable water supply. The Giyani water services project has resumed following the deployment of Department of Water and Sanitation’s Construction North Unit (DWS: CN) during February 2019. The overall progress for the bulk water distribution pipelines is at 54%. In parallel, the construction of the bulk pipeline from Nandoni water supply scheme that will augment water supply deficiencies in Nsami Scheme is also under construction and currently at 35% overall completion.

(2) The Mopani District Municipality as the responsible Water Services Authority (WSA) is responsible for providing water to the residents of Giyani through existing infrastructure which is augmented by completed boreholes and water carting. The refurbishment of the bulk water distribution system to 55 villages is under construction as indicated above. Completion of the various stages of the project is anticipated from March 2021 until March 2022. Further details relating to projects in the Giyani area are as follows:

• 300km asbestos cement (AC) pipelines have been replaced with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipelines to curb water losses and enhance water supply efficiency. The installed bulk pipelines are not yet operational pending completion of ancillaries, pressure testing and commissioning for the completed sections.
• The bulk water pipeline that will convey water from Nandoni water supply scheme to augment water supply in Giyani is anticipated to be completed by August 2022.
• Two of the bulk distribution pipelines to Giyani town and 4 villages (Thomo, Mininginisi Block 2, Mhlava and Muyexe) are partially completed and operational. It is envisaged that these pipelines will be fully functional by March 2021.

Reply:

The total amount received by the Department of Water and Sanitation in appropriations for drought relief measures from the National Treasury since 1 April 2016 to date is appended as Annexure A. The table below provides a summary:

a) Total amount received in appropriations for drought relief measures from the National Treasury	b) Details of how the drought relief appropriations were used in each case
Financial year 2016/17	No allocation
Financial year 2017/18 a total of R541 million was allocated	Water tankering An amount of R500 million was received as additional budget in respect of unforeseeable and unavoidable expenditure for the implementation of: R200 million for the Butterworth Emergency Water Supply Scheme R300 million for upgrading the capacity of the Thukela Goudertrouw Transfer Scheme (R300 million). Additional funding was used to address unplanned and unforeseen emergency drought interventions related to the water crisis experienced in Butterworth and Mnquma Local Municipality in the Amathole District. The envisaged interventions entailed the design, construction and commissioning of a raw water rising main between Tsomo River and the catchment area to Xilinxa dam as a short term solution to address the water crisis in Butterworth.
Financial years 2018/19: R1  billion was allocated	Conditional grants transferred to municipalities, including water tankering
Financial years 2019/20: R473 million was allocated	The Schedule 6B allocation of the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) and Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG) was earmarked for drought emergency interventions, drilling of new boreholes and resuscitations of old boreholes, water tankering, stock watering and project management fees.
Financial years 2020/21 a total of R972 million was allocated	The department has reprioritised the total amount of R666million from both Schedule 6B allocation of the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) and Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG) towards drought emergency interventions such as drilling of new boreholes and resuscitations of old boreholes, water tankering, stock watering and project management fees. The amount of R307 million was conditionally approved by the Minister of Finance, for inclusion in the second Adjustments Appropriation Bill, 2020, as roll-over of unspent funds from the 2019/20 financial year to the 2020/21 financial year for the country-wide COVID-19 and drought emergency interventions. The amount of R307 million is additional budget to the earmarked funds of R666 million towards drought emergency interventions. The amount of R307 million has been allocated budget to the Northern Cape region through Schedule 6B of the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) as part of the presidential commitments made on drought emergency interventions.

Reply:

(1)(a) The total annual water allocation from the Orange River System through the Oranje-Fish Tunnel scheme that diverts water from the Gariep Dam to the Fish and Sundays Rivers to the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBMM) is 58,3 million m3/annum.

(b) The water allocation is ensured through the Annual Operating Analysis of the Orange River System as well as Algoa Water Supply System, of which the NMBMM is part of the Stakeholders Operating Forum (SOF). The NMBMM operates the relevant infrastructure that provides potable water to municipal users.

(2) The NMBM is utilising its full allocation at present.

(3)(a) The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) issued a license to NMBM to abstract a total of 58.3 million m3/a of water from the Orange River, with the proviso that the license could be reduced back to 22 million m3/a after 20 years (by 2031). However, NMBM has requested that the license be made permanent on account of its high capital investment. The potential for further allocation in line with potential efficiency savings, to be obtained along the OFS transfer route has been considered and can be considered further, depending on the success of efficiency measures introduced. An additional allocation of 18.25 million m3/a has been recommended, to be made available from water saved through efficiency measures introduced, which could potentially be developed as a Phase 4 of the Nooitgedagt Low Level Scheme.

(b) The Orange River Project/Nooitgedacht Low-Level Scheme is one of the interventions with the following upgrades to possibly ensure increased efficiency and reduce water losses in the system that supplies NMBMM:

• Concrete-lining of the 500 km of earth canals in the Great Fish River Water User Association (GFRWUA) area of jurisdiction by the Water Users Associations (WUA).
• Improved measuring and monitoring in the GFRWUA and Lower Sundays River Water User Association (LSRWUA) areas of jurisdiction by DWS for flow measurements and the WUAs on actual water use measurements.
• Removal of reeds along the Great Fish River by the WUAs and the working for programmes.
• Optimisation of operational releases made at the Elandsdrift and De Mistkraal weirs to be implemented in a step-wise manner by DWS – this involves a revival of the existing Real-Time model.
• Refurbishment of the Darlington Dam which is currently being evaluated by the Infrastructure unit of DWS.

Reply:

(a) The Housing Development Agency does not have a Chief Procurement Officer.

(b) At the HDA has an Acting Chief Executive Officer, Acting Senior Manager for Supply Chain, Acting Regional Manager for Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape, and an Acting Provincial Manager for Limpopo.

I am constrained and prohibited by the document titled “Guide to Parliamentary Questions in the National Assembly” from providing the Honourable Member with the names of the officials as requested. The document referred to states that:

“Questions are to be framed as concisely as possible. All unnecessary adjectives, references and quotations are omitted. Names of persons, bodies and, for example, newspapers are only used in questions if the facts surrounding the case have been proven. As the mere mention of such names could be construed as publicity for or against them, it should be clear that this practice is highly undesirable. If a question will be unintelligible without mentioning such names, the Departments concerned are notified of the name (-s) and this phrase is used: ".......a certain person (name furnished)”

(c) Chief Executive Officer: The position has been vacant since 31 December 2019.

Acting Senior Manager - Supply Chain: This position has been vacant since 1 August 2020.

Regional Manager – Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape. The position has been vacant since 31 August 2020.

Provincial Manager – Limpopo: This position has been vacant since 2 October 2020.

 

Reply:

Honourable Member, any assistance required by our communities is rendered by municipalities. Should a municipality have difficulties, it approaches the Water Board that services the area. In this case, Magalies Water would assist the municipality.

I wish to point out that the legislative mandate of the Department of Water and Sanitation is to ensure that the country’s water resources are protected, managed, used, developed, conserved and controlled in a sustainable manner for the benefit of all people and the environment.

The Water Services Act, 1997 refers to municipalities as Water Service Authorities (WSAs) responsible for distribution (reticulation) of water and to supply sanitation services. The Water Services Act in section 3 outlines the right of access to basic water supply and sanitation which mandates that “everyone has a right of access to basic water supply and basic sanitation” and places the responsibility on Water Services Authorities to ensure that they develop a Water Services Development Plan (WSDP) to ensure the realisation of this right.

Section 11 of the Water Services Act, 1997 mandates that “every Water Services Authority has the duty to all consumers or potential consumers in its area of jurisdiction to progressively ensure efficient, affordable, economical and sustainable access to water services.”

.

Reply:

(a) There has been no increase (0%) on the Bulk Water Charges imposed on all Water Boards for the 2020/21 financial year. The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has also committed R600m in relief funds that will be distributed to cash strapped Water Boards. These funds will also go some way in helping the Water Boards to absorb the increase in raw water charges.

(b) Significant concessions have been given to the Domestic and Industry Sector with regards to Raw Water Use Charges. In terms of Water Resource Management Charges (WRMC), if the charges had been approved in line with the policy (Raw Water Pricing Strategy), the charges would have been increased by a maximum of fifty-six percent (56%). In terms of Water Resource Infrastructure Charges (WRIC), a maximum increase of 16.5% would also have been approved. The Capital Unit Charge (CUC) which is the charged levied on users that take water from schemes that are funded off-budget has not been increased for the 2020/21 financial year. The zero percent (0%) increase has been imposed on those schemes that supply water to domestic users.

It is important to note that all these concessions have had a negative impact on the performance of the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) in relation to water resource management functions, water resource infrastructure development and maintenance. The DWS provides assistance to the municipalities through the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) and the Municipal Water Infrastructure Grant (MWIG) for the development of new infrastructure and refurbishment thereof to ensure provision of clean Water.

Reply:

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) does not consider the Orange River as being under drought conditions and there are no water restrictions imposed on water resource use in the upper Orange River catchment. Therefore, no special drought plans are under consideration. However, the Orange River does have seasonal variations in terms of flow, with lower flows experienced in late winter. Alternative sources such as boreholes and springs are developed and utilised as alternate standby sources.

The Department is aware that the Joe Gqabi District Municipality (JGDM) does have water distribution constraints to the extent that there is a moratorium on further developments until the water services are upgraded in line with the Aliwal North Water Master Plan. The Joe Gqabi District Municipality does have short and medium term plans to improve water services in the area as follows:

a) Two projects already commenced with are the construction of two raw water off-channel storage dams at the water works (MIG funded) and replacement of asbestos cement bulk pipeline and leaking valves (WSIG funded),

b) Funding is currently still being sought for further short term plans to:

• Build a new 2 Ml Clear Water Sump and install a high lift pump at the WTW,
• Build a 1,2Ml reservoir and a 400kl elevated tank at the springs; and install a high pressure gravity main.

c) Medium Term Plans:

• Upgrade of WTW by 2,5Ml and installation of a desalination/package plant at the springs,
• Replacement of the old 200mm asbestos cement rising main and upgrade of pump station and main reservoir at the springs.

Reply:

Honourable Member, the legislative mandate of the Department of Water and Sanitation is to ensure that the country’s water resources are protected, managed, used, developed, conserved and controlled in a sustainable manner for the benefit of all people and the environment.

The Water Services Act, 1997 refers to municipalities as Water Service Authorities (WSAs) responsible for distribution (reticulation) of water and to supply sanitation services. The Water Services Act in section 3 outlines the right of access to basic water supply and sanitation which mandates that “everyone has a right of access to basic water supply and basic sanitation” and places the responsibility on Water Services Authorities to ensure that they develop a Water Services Development Plan (WSDP) to ensure the realisation of this right.

Section 11 of the Water Services Act, 1997 mandates that “every Water Services Authority has the duty to all consumers or potential consumers in its area of jurisdiction to progressively ensure efficient, affordable, economical and sustainable access to water services.”

Therefore, any assistance required by our communities is rendered by municipalities. Should a municipality have difficulties, it approaches the Water Board that services the area. In this case, Magalies Water would assist the municipality.

Notwithstanding the above, I have been informed that the Madibeng Local Municipality has procured and installed three (3) 10 000 litre water tanks to ensure access to clean water, and that these are filled with water on a regular basis.

 

Reply:

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has not been able to complete the Bucket Eradication Programme in the Free State Province for reasons beyond the control of the department. It is for this reason that I have appointed the Housing Development Agency (HDA) to assist with the backlog.

I have been informed that the backlog can be attributed to the procurement of materials on national tender and Works Quotations (WQ’s) below R500 000,00. In some cases, Works Quotations are rendered unsuccessful as bids received are non-responsive due to:

• Prices for required materials being very expensive; or
• Bids not being received on some tenders at all or an insufficient number of bids being received for competitive evaluation and award

In addition, cash flow and delivery (transport) challenges experienced by successful bidders delayed delivery of material to sites prior and during the lockdown period. However, this has since normalised and some materials have been received.

It should also be noted that Supply Chain Management processes are not geared towards the procurement of materials on short notice as all tenders needs to follow Section 217 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.

Reply:

Department of Human Settlements (DHS):

a) There was one Turnaround Strategy and Restructuring Programme undertaken by my Department of Human Settlements in the past 5 years. This was undertaken to align the revised departmental mandate from focusing on housing to the development of Human Settlements, as well as to align personnel resources in response to the National reduction of Compensation of Employees Budget. The process needed an Organisational Structure Review and Alignment, where there were:

• financial costs for the Organisational Structure Review and Alignment Project, which was done through an external service provider in 2016-2018, due to insufficient capacity internally;

• non-financial costs for review of the MTSF Strategy, as it was done by existing internal personnel.

b) The total external service provider costs amounted to R706 299.16 for consultancy services for the Organisational Structure Review and Alignment Project. The deliverables concluded by the service provider included:

1. Recommendations report
2. Business Case
3. Macro Organisational Structure
4. Micro Organisational Structure
5. Job Descriptions and reports
6. Job Evaluation and reports
7. Competency report
8. Implementation Plan and Migration strategy
9. Human Resource Plan (draft)
10. Employment Equity Plan (draft)
11. Project close-out report
12. Costing model
13. Project administration reports

Department of Water and Sanitation:

(a)(i) In 2019 the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), in consultation with National Treasury, developed a financial turnaround strategy that is currently being implemented. DWS has not sought the services of consultants.

(ii) The department is currently in the process of reviewing its organisational structure using internal resources.

(b) The DWS has not sought the services of consultants for the review of the structure or the financial and non-financial turnaround strategies in the past five years.

Reply:

1. The consultant who undertook the Detailed Feasibility and Detailed Design of the project was appointed by uThukela District Municipality, not Umgeni Water, and had not considered whether there was sufficient resource (water) in Spioenkop Dam to support the project demands. As a result, the project could have been constructed but would not have had the raw water resource needed to supply the demand in the area. After much of the planning and detailed design had been completed, the Department of Water and Sanitation undertook a due diligence study to determine whether there would be sufficient water available in Spioenkop Dam to support the scheme. When it became apparent that there would not be sufficient resource available the project was discontinued in the planned format

(2) Umgeni Water has recently completed a Framework Tender process and now has a panel of consultants to draw from for planning and detailed design projects. A consultant will be appointed from this panel to undertake the Detailed Feasibility Study of the project and this appointment is likely to be made the end of 2020, after the completion of the Terms of Reference, which are currently being developed by the project team.

(3) The procurement process has not, as yet, been completed and hence it is not possible to present the expected costs of the detailed feasibility study for this project.

(4) The bulk water supply scheme to supply Ladysmith will be a large and complex project and will have to include the development of a new resource (dam) and appropriate bulk infrastructure to treat and supply the water. Large projects of this complexity take time to plan and implement and the risk of rushing or curtailing the process can have huge risk and capital consequences. The planning study would include, amongst others, an options analysis, water resource assessment for each option, water quality monitoring and assessment, process investigation, pipeline alignments, water treatment plant, pump station and reservoir positioning, land and geotech surveys, economic and financial analyses and environmental investigations. All of these studies take time to undertake and are important to fully investigate to ensure the success of the project.

Reply:

Any assistance with water required by our communities is rendered by municipalities. Should a municipality have difficulties, it approaches the Water Board that services the area. In this case, Lepelle Northern Water would assist the said municipality.

Notwithstanding, the information available on the matter raised by the Honourable Member, is that three (3) Eskom poles were damaged due to heavy rainfalls in the area since 07 October 2020, which affected the transmission of electricity.

However, Eskom reconnected the supply of electricity on 16 October 2020. Water is currently being pumped from the package plant and the supply is back to normality. The community is now receiving water without difficulties.

Reply:

(a) In terms of our Constitutional delineation of responsibilities, municipalities are responsible for housing lists. The National Department of Human Settlements sets norms and standards, and monitor their implementation. Having realised the lack of capacity in certain municipalities, we decided to institute a National Housing Needs Register on which household can record their housing needs.

This National Housing Needs Register is different from a waiting list as it is used by provinces to select household who can be approached with an offer to apply for specific housing opportunities as these are created within Greenfield projects. Provinces and municipalities are encouraged to make use of the National Housing Needs Register system as it provides for a fair, transparent and just process of selection of prospective subsidy beneficiaries and allows for regional specific preferential selection criteria.

The System is linked to National Guidelines for the Allocation of Housing Opportunities created through the National Housing Programmes. The total number of households that have registered their need for adequate shelter as on 23 October 2020 is 2,537,968. The Honourable Member should note that the Western Cape does not utilize the National Housing Needs Register

(b) Below breakdown of number of households that have registered their need for adequate shelter per province as on 23 October 2020 on the National Housing Needs Register:

(c) The number of houses build by provinces depends on the HSDG budget allocation to each province every financial year. In the 2020/21 financial year the Department has planned to deliver the number of housing units and serviced as indicated below:

	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23
Province	Total No of projects	Serviced sites	Housing Units	CRU (units)	FLISP	Planned sites	Planned units	Planned sites	Planned units
Eastern Cape	465	3 727	7 025	0	200	5 056	7 805	5 413	8 172
Free State	155	3 778	2 431	100	100	1 000	5 858	1 000	5 107
Gauteng	184	13 851	9 563	0	100	9 977	16 011	10 177	16 311
KwaZulu Natal	346	5 208	11 020	400	252	2 846	13 176	2 458	14 877
Limpopo	163	2 839	5 214	150	25	2 500	5 664	2 500	2 896
Mpumalanga	153	3 426	4 369	128	100	4 400	4 436	5 000	3 793
Northern Cape	47	2 329	376	190	20	4 352	909	2 470	103
North West	351	3 692	6 381	0	40	5 198	6 156	7 663	5 776
Western Cape	147	5 697	7 843	0	598	10 736	11 450	6 323	10 241
Nat Total	2011	44 547	54 222	968	1 435	46 065	71 465	43 004	67 276

 

Further to the above, the Department will through the Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA) deliver the following in the 2020/21 MTEF:

	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23
Planned Social Housing Units	5 800	6 700	8 000

 

Reply:

(a) The Department of Human Settlements, working closely with provincial Departments of Human Settlements and municipalities has put in place a strategy and implementation plan to ensure that there is sufficient sanitation in informal settlements across the Republic, where persons often share ablution facilities. Informal settlements have been identified as high priority area for mass sanitisation disinfection. Areas to be disinfected include communal water collection points and communal toilet facilities. The response plan provides measures proposed through the current Informal Settlements Upgrading Programme (UISP) to immediately:

1. Minimise and mitigate the rate of COVID-19 infections and spread, through interventions in vulnerable households and communities, focused on informal settlements, hostels, inner-cities and backyards.

2. Enable households to observe physical and/or social distancing and self-isolation in terms of public health regulations.

3. Resettlement of identified dense and overcrowded settlements through the establishment of Transitional Residential Areas (TRAs).

4. Enhance implementation process of the projects currently underway with specific focus on projects benefiting informal settlements households.

(b) The Department together with Provinces have identified informal settlements without and those with limited services to determine what would be sufficient ablution facilities to enable the social distancing now required to combat Covid-19 by installing new or augmenting the existing basic services i.e. communal water points and communal toilet facilities. Additional action to mitigate COVID-19 has been established through a National Human Settlements Command Centre (NHSCC) that has been set up at the HDA. All Provinces and Metropolitan Municipalities are members of the NHSCC.

Reply:

a) The Greater Letaba Municipality Local Municipality falls within the Mopani District Municipality which is a Water Services Authority (WSA) and has a constitutional mandate to ensure adequate supply of clean water within its areas of jurisdiction including Greater Letaba Local Municipality.

The Greater Letaba Local Municipality has a total population of 247 739 residing in 132 villages and 3 towns namely Sekgosese, Modjadjiskloof and Kgapane which are serviced by two Water Treatment Works (WTW) both of which are currently performing at 72%. The details are as follows:

• Politsi WTW which is operated by Lepelle Northern Water (LNW) with a design capacity of 5.5 Ml/d; currently producing 6 Ml/d. The plant abstracts raw water at Vergelegen Dam which is at 100.33%
• The Modjadji WTW is operated by Mopani District Municipality which has a design capacity of 12 Ml/d and currently producing 7 Ml/d due to insufficient raw water from Modjadji Dam the level of which are currently at 11%.

The surface bulk water supply is augmented by 334 boreholes, 231 of which are operational and 103 are not operational. The details of the boreholes that are not operational are as follows:

• 39 boreholes are awaiting ESKOM connections and application are in progress,
• 4 boreholes were vandalized,
• 7 boreholes collapsed,
• 39 boreholes are dry and require funds for re-drilling.

The Mopani District Municipality is currently attending to 18 boreholes which require electrical and mechanical maintenance and 4 boreholes out of the 18 boreholes will augment the Modjadji WTW. The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) through the Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG) and over the 2020/21 MTEF has allocated R45 000 000 to assist Mopani District Municipality which will also the Greater Letaba Local Municipality.

Furthermore, Mopani District Municipality is currently implementing 7 MIG water projects within Greater Letaba Local Municipality and the overall progress is at 52%. This is meant to address bulk pipeline development and reticulation within villages.

b) The following are the reasons for the disruption in water supply at the within Greater Letaba Local Municipality:

• Modjadji Dam is currently at 11% and there are restrictions that are imposed by the Department which require users to reduce abstraction by 50%. This has reduced the performance of Modjadji WWTW by almost 50%.
• The Greater Letaba Local Municipality currently has 103 non-functional boreholes as per details provided above.

 

Reply:

The Department of Water and Sanitation has informed me that it has settled all commitments and liabilities relating to procured goods and services, including services provided in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reply:

Honourable Member, please be advised that my Department did not appoint the contractor for the Seraleng Housing Project and therefore did not pay any money towards the project.

Reply:

(1)(a) The tender for the Seraleng Housing Project was not awarded by my Department but by the North West Provincial Department of Human Settlements. With regards to the request for name of a contractor involved in the housing project referred to in this question, I am constrained and prohibited by the document titled “Guide to Parliamentary Questions in the National Assembly” from providing the Honourable Member with the name of the contractor. The document referred to states that:

“Questions are to be framed as concisely as possible. All unnecessary adjectives, references and quotations are omitted. Names of persons, bodies and, for example, newspapers are only used in questions if the facts surrounding the case have been proven. As the mere mention of such names could be construed as publicity for or against them, it should be clear that this practice is highly undesirable. If a question will be unintelligible without mentioning such names, the Departments concerned are notified of the name (-s) and this phrase is used: ".......a certain person (name furnished)”

(b) I am informed that the total number of houses to be built was 557.

(c) The total amount of the tender was R89 146 104.11

(2)(a) I am further advised that the building of houses commenced in October 2015 and

(b) the project was halted in 2018.

Reply:

(a) The total number of Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW) that are in a state of decay in the Republic are 265

(b) Maintenance and refurbishment of Waste Water Treatment Works is the primary responsibility of the Water Service Authorities (WSAs), i.e. municipalities. However, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) works together with the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) and the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) to ensure that municipalities receive the necessary support and grant funding to refurbish and maintain their assets. Water Service Authorities, through their Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) allocation for water and sanitation, have allocated funding for the refurbishment of some of WWTW.

The Department also funds certain refurbishment and upgrading projects that meet the criteria of the different funding programmes such as Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) and Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG). Some of the specified plants have been included in these programs depending on availability of funds availed to the Regions. The intended outcome is to improve the performance of the plants which will, in turn, improve the quality of effluent discharged into the water resources.

Further, the DWS conducts regular inspections and requires local authorities to develop Operation and Maintenance plans as a mandatory activity. These plans must provide system operators in the municipalities with comprehensive guidelines, procedures, and the necessary technical references to efficiently operate wastewater plants. Local authorities are required to amend the plans whenever there is a change in the treatment works design, construction, operations or maintenance which substantially changes the treatment works operations and maintenance procedures.

(c) Non-functional Waste Water Treatment Plants leads to the pollution of water resources. Pollution contributes to the deterioration of water quality which impacts on the sustainability of the ecosystems in the water resources. Poor water quality increases water treatment costs. Pollution of water resources also poses a health risk to the citizens as high microbial counts in the water may cause waterborne diseases like diarrhoea which may lead to loss of life. It can also impact on the economy of the country since it is a risk to irrigated crops and exports market, and therefore can result in the loss of investors and business opportunities.

Reply:

(a) The Eastern Cape Department of Human Settlements (ECDHS) reported that the planned total yield of the Missionvale Project is 2 498, of which 2 291 housing units have been completed and the remaining balance is 207. The date for completion of the construction of the specified houses cannot be confirmed at this stage because the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBMM) is yet to submit an application to the ECDHS for the unblocking of the project. The said application must be accompanied by proof which confirms that the bulk infrastructure services are fully functional.

(b) The ECDHS appointed Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality as the developer for the Missionvale Project. Subsequently, the NMBMM appointed Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) for the construction of the houses.

With regards to the request for name(s) of contractors involved in the housing project referred to in this question, I am constrained and prohibited by the document titled “Guide to Parliamentary Questions in the National Assembly” from providing the Honourable Member with the name of the contractor. The document referred to states that:

“Questions are to be framed as concisely as possible. All unnecessary adjectives, references and quotations are omitted. Names of persons, bodies and, for example, newspapers are only used in questions if the facts surrounding the case have been proven. As the mere mention of such names could be construed as publicity for or against them, it should be clear that this practice is highly undesirable. If a question will be unintelligible without mentioning such names, the Departments concerned are notified of the name (-s) and this phrase is used: ".......a certain person (name furnished)”

(c) The Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality has advised that it has expended an amount of R157 639 933.26, to date, to the contractors for the work and value they created at the Missionvale Project.

Reply:

Based on the information provided by the Kwa-Zulu Natal Provincial Department of Human Settlements, the project is at a pre-feasibility stage. An application was received by the Provincial Department of Human Settlements from eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, which was duly processed and feedback was accordingly provided to the Metropolitan Municipality. The eThekwini Metro is currently incorporating all the comments received from the Provincial Department of Human Settlements, to ensure that the project meets the funding criteria for the Human Settlement Development Grant (HSDG).

The table below provides the timeframes and envisaged dates for the execution of project tasks which includes the construction of houses.

Activity	Time Frame
Approval of project implementation funding	February 2021
Detailed planning studies	October 2019 - June 2021
Pre – Implementation Submission Consultations	April 2021
Final planning application submission	May 2021
Planning approval	June 2021
Submission and approval of Tranche 2 application to Provincial Department	July – September 2021
Installation of Services	October 2021 - March 2022
Top structure construction	April 2022

Reply:

1. The provincial breakdown for the allocation of title deeds per province per municipality is attached as Annexure A.
2. The number of persons who are still on the housing waiting list in each municipality in each province is attached as Annexure B.

Annexure B indicates the number of households per province that have registered their need for adequate shelter on the National Housing Needs Register (NHNR).

The total number of households per province are presented as follow:

• Approved On Housing Subsidy System (HSS): indicates the total number of households on the NHNR that have completed subsidy application forms and these subsidy applications forms were approved against the relevant project.
• On NHNR Only: indicates the total number of households that have registered their need for adequate shelter on the NHNR. These households have not completed the subsidy applications forms to date.

Please note that the Western Cape Provincial Department of Human Settlements is not utilizing the NHNR.

Reply:

Honourable Member, we received a number of complaints regarding evictions and therefore ensured that the following regulations were issued for the duration of the lockdown period.

The Regulations issued in terms of section 27(2) of the Disaster Management Act of 2002 by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, on 16 April 2020 (Regulations Gazette 43232) on the prohibition on evictions, states that “no person may be evicted from their place of residence. Regardless of whether it is a formal or informal residence or a farm dwelling, for the duration of the lockdown."

Moreover, Regulation 19 of the Regulations issued on 29 April 2020 (Regulations Gazette 43258) on the Prohibition on Evictions provides that:

“A competent court may grant an order for the eviction of any person from land or a home in terms of the provisions of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act 62 of 1997 and the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act 19 of 1998: Provided that any order of eviction shall be stayed and suspended until the last day Alert Level 4, unless a court decides that it is not just and equitable to stay and suspend the order until the last day of the Alert Level 4 period”.

Although the said regulations were issued, the implementation thereof fall under different authorities. In upholding and affirming the regulations cited above, Imade a public appeal to municipalities and private property owners to suspend evictions during the lockdown and instead for all parties to prioritise measures aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have intervened in cases where we had been made aware of this and have also communicated these details to the public.

On 16 July 2020, I issued a media statement wherein I urged the City of Cape Town to adhere to the Alert Level 3 Regulations which prohibit the evictions of persons from their homes. I also confirmed my unwavering commitment to support the Western Cape Department of Human Settlements to provide basic services such as water and sanitation in their rollout of the Upgrading of Informal Settlements Program.

Reply:

(1) The National Department of Human Settlements did not order the eviction of the residents of Fleurhof.

(2) Honourable Member, I learnt of the regrettable death of a man at the scene of the evictions in Fleurhof. I am informed that the matter is currently the subject of investigations by the relevant law enforcement agencies.

Further, the Honourable Member will recall that at the Portfolio Committee meeting of 6 October 2020 she asked me about the Fleurhof eviction and I promised to table a report on the matter once it has been finalised.

Reply:

(a) Water purification is a function that resides with the Water Services Authorities (municipalities) according to Water Services Act no 108, 1997.

(b) The Temba Water Treatment Plant has been upgraded and handed over to the Water Service Authority (the City of Tshwane) in February 2020.

(c) The Department of Water and Sanitation monitors the Water Service Authority (the City of Tshwane) by conducting technical inspections to ensure:

• • that the plant is operated by qualified Process Controllers and a qualified maintenance team;
  • availability of operational manual and operational log books.

Reply:

(1) The Eastern Cape Department of Human Settlements (ECDHS) approved funding to the amount of R1 708 350, 70 for the planning and design stage of the construction of houses in Nieu-Bethesda in the Eastern Cape. The planning and design stage is scheduled for completion by March 2022. The budget for internal services infrastructure will be allocated in 2022/23 financial year (October 2022) and the budget for the construction of houses will be allocated in the 2023/24 financial year.

(a) The initial number of houses to be built was 250, however, the project scope had to be reduced to 173 due to the surrounding wetland. Upon submission of the Basic Assessment Report (BAR) to the Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT), the project was further reduced to 100 erven in order to move the development to a safety zone, further away from the wetland.

REQUIRED APPROVALS	PROGRESS
Layout Plan Approval	A large portion of the land bought by the Beyers Naude Local Municipality (BNLM) for development has upon investigation proven to be undevelopable due to an existing wetland that covers much of the area between Nieu Bethesda and Pienaarsig. The seasonal nature of the wetland was deemed to be problematic for development and has reduced the remaining developable land to only 100 erven that can be accommodated within the demarcated area. This required the town planner to go through several layout changes before the ideal layout could be agreed on with the available land. These options also had to be discussed with the community on more than one occasion. The Layout Plan is currently with the BNLM and will be subjected to the requisite approval processes.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Approval	The Basic Assessment Report was revised and submitted to DEDEAT. Thereafter, the DEDEAT will issue a Record of Decision (RoD).
WULA	The Water Use Licence Application (WULA) documentation had been prepared for the original layout plan but a wetland was discovered on the initial project area. The discovery of the wetland prompted a revision of the WULA study. The revision of the study is underway.
Engineering Designs	The preliminary engineering designs for the provision of bulk infrastructure services were completed in May 2015. Following the identification of a wetland on the planned development area, the final engineering designs had to be amended.
Land Survey	A Land Survey had already been done on the original layout plan on which some land portions were later declared undevelopable due to the wetland. The Land Surveyor will survey additional areas which were not initially included in the planned developable area.

(b) The planning stage will be completed in March 2022 due to the process of Water Use Licence Application (WULA) and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approvals. It is envisaged that the installation of services will start in October 2022 and the Construction of houses in April 2023.

(2) Yes, there is a contingency plan in place in terms of which the ECDHS, (Sarah Baartman Regional Office) has requested the Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality to identify the destitute and vulnerable families in the area, who will be allocated with Temporary Residential Units (TRU). To this end, the municipality has identified and profiled seven destitute families who are scheduled to receive their TRUs by end of October 2020. 

Reply:

No I have not been informed about the allegations referred to in the question. The Honourable Member is requested to urgently report the matter to the nearby police station and the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality. Further, the Member is requested to provide me with details of this alleged crime.

I wish to state categorically that we are enjoined to deliver a service to our people and for a greater good. As public representatives, the duty of our office requires that we must take legal action against the wrong doing when brought to our attention and not wait for sharing such information through parliamentary questions. In doing so, we run the risk of losing crucial evidence that law enforcement agencies might require. If proven to be true, this is a serious offence and it will not be tolerated.

Reply:

The Gauteng Provincial Department of Human Settlements reported that it had not received reports of the alleged selling of houses belonging to the aged in Pholomong, Orlando West to make way for the operation of businesses in the area.

The selling of any houses without the consent of the owner is illegal. I would, therefore, encourage the Honourable Member to report this to the law enforcement agencies or provide evidence of illegal selling of houses to my department for investigation. Alternatively, the Honourable Member could give me details of these misdemeanours, I would like to look into the matter as I am familiar with the area.

Reply:

 

To begin with Honourable member, it is important to note that the RDP houses were discontinued when Cabinet adopted the Comprehensive Plan for the Development of Sustainable Human Settlements in 2004 setting new standards for housing typologies for government houses referred to as BNG houses.

The total number of incomplete units in the Mogalakwena Local Municipality is 319 houses spread over a total of 14 villages. The Limpopo Provincial Department of Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements & Traditional Affairs has appointed Contractors in 2019/2020 to complete 210 units. It is expected that the units will be completed by the end of October 2020. The Provincial Department will appoint Contractors during the 2021/22 financial year to complete the remaining 109 units. The anticipated completion date is 31 March 2022.

The total number of incomplete units in the Makhado Local Municipality is 87 spread over a total of 11 villages. The Limpopo Provincial Department of Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements & Traditional Affairs will appoint Contractors in the 2021/2022 financial year to complete the 87 units. The anticipated completion date is 31 March 2022.

Reply:

(a) The Gauteng Department of Human Settlements refurbished the Kwa-Masiza Hostel under the CRU Program. The three (3) and four (4) bedroom units were upgraded to serve as rental stock for qualifying beneficiaries. Residents that did not qualify for the rental option were accommodated under the subsidy scheme upon the approval process.

The completed units were made available to qualifying beneficiaries but due to unaffordability, the hostel residents refused to take occupation of the units. In addition, the project was plagued by various implementation challenges related to service providers on site which led to subsequent delays in the roll out of the development and inevitably the project was stopped.

The Auditor-General found that the continued payment of security services from the Human Settlements Development Grant (HSDG) to guard the stopped project would result in irregular expenditure on the part of the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements (GDHS). Consequently, the GDHS took a decision to withdraw all the security services from the project, which led to invasion and vandalization of the properties.

The Gauteng Department of Human Settlements has established a steering committee comprised of MMCs, Project Managers and the Local Councillor with the purpose of reviving the project and finding solutions to challenges that caused it to come to a standstill.

(b) Honourable Member, I am constrained and prohibited by the document titled “Guide to Parliamentary Questions in the National Assembly” from providing the names of companies as requested. The document referred to states that:

“Questions are to be framed as concisely as possible. All unnecessary adjectives, references and quotations are omitted. Names of persons, bodies and, for example, newspapers are only used in questions if the facts surrounding the case have been proven. As the mere mention of such names could be construed as publicity for or against them, it should be clear that this practice is highly undesirable. If a question will be unintelligible without mentioning such names, the Departments concerned are notified of the name (-s) and this phrase is used: ".......a certain person (name furnished)”.

(c) The Gauteng Department of Human Settlements plans to revive the development of the project and has set aside a budget of R4 000 000.00 (four million rand) for the initial assessment and repackaging of the project. The plan is to redevelop the hostel into walk-up family units.

(d) The GDHS was cautioned by the Auditor-General and the National Department of Human Settlements against the use of the Human Settlement Development Grant to pay for non-housing related costs. The Division of Revenue Act (DORA) is clear that the HSDG should only be spent on housing costs. The continued payment of security services from the HSDG exposed the GDHS to irregular expenditure. In 2018, the GDHS took a decision to discontinue payments for security services to guard the project and withdrew the security company from the site.

(e) The GDHS made no payment to the security company due to a lack of the Portfolio of Evidence on the part of the claimant.

Reply:

(a)&(b) Honourable Member, my Department has informed me that it has conducted a site visit to verify the nature and extent of the damages at the said household. It is liaising with the Lekwa Local Municipality to ensure that the affected household is promptly provided with temporary shelter through its Municipal Relief Programme.

Further, upon finalization and approval processes, a house shall be allocated to the affected household on Stand No. 4607, Ext 6 Sakhile under the project (E19100002) which is currently undertaken by a contractor appointed to construct 200 housing units in the area. On approval, the contractor shall be given one calendar month to complete the house.

Reply:

DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS:

The National Department of Human Settlements purchased goods and/or services below the amount of R 500 000 connected to the Covid-19 pandemic as indicated below:

Order number	(b)Transaction amount	(c)Service/or product	Deviation
DH-026965	R 8 000.00	Empty Plastic bottles	No
DH-026966	R 25 400.00	Hand Sanitizers	No
DH-026967	R 82 400.00	Cloth Face Masks	No
DH-026968	R 104 550.00	Covid -19 Tests	No
DH-026970	R 174 464.00	Deep cleaning and sanitizing of buildings( 240 JMS; 260 JMS and Struktura)	No.
DH-026980	R 78 000.00	Face Shields	No
DH-026982	R 8 250.00	Foot Operated Hand Sanitizer Stand	No
DH-027009	R 4 800.00	Hand Sanitizers	No
DH-027017	R 41 000.00	Hand Sanitizers Construction gloves Face Shields Cloth Face masks	No
P No. 2420131	R 38 812.50	Hand Sanitizers Sanitizer Dispensers	No
P No. 2420302	R 77 833.00	Nurses appointed to screen employees and visitors	Yes (only two quotations were received).
P No. 2419856	R 242 213.00	Disinfect the DHS buildings for Covid -19 and fumigation of pests.	No
P No. 2419679	R 31 500.00	Face masks and surgical gloves	No
P No. 2419632	R 1 998.00	Thermometers	No
P No. 2419632	R 2 940.70	Surgical masks 3 ply	No
P No. 2419393	R 1935.00	Disinfecting wipes	No
P No. 2419393	R 1 527.60	Sterile gloves	No
P No. 2419393	R 2 491.95	Hand sanitizers	No
P No. 2419393	R 1 981.20	Hand sanitizers and wipes	No

(2)

(a) Yes, there was a deviation concerning the procurement of nursing services as shown in the table above. 

(b) There were no service providers/agencies registered in the National Treasury Central Supplier Database for the supply of nursing services. The Department of Human Settlements identified three agencies, (i.e. Mab Agency; Mednurse and Medwell). Requests for quotations were sent to the three agencies, but only two (Med nurse and Medwell) responded. A deviation was thus approved for procurement to be done based on two quotations.

(3) Goods and services were purchased from service providers with the lowest acceptable quotes. In instances where the value of goods procured was below R 2000.00, petty cash was used and therefore no requests for quotations were sent out. This practice is in line with the Supply Chain Management prescripts.

(4) My Department is available to brief the Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation.

DEPARTMENT OF WATER AND SANITATION:

(1) The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) purchased personal protective equipment (PPE). The information relating to expenditure on PPE and other measures to combat the spread of Covid-19 and the suppliers where the PPE were procured from is attached as Annexure A. In addition, the various suppliers used are on the Central Supplier Database.  

(2) No, the DWS did not deviate from the standard Supply Chain Management procedures.  

(3) The reasons for procuring the goods from specific companies was to enable the department to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic through:

• Provision of PPE to employees
• Facilitating the screening of employees at the Head office and Regional Offices
• Disinfection of Office buildings (including Fumigation, Deep Cleaning and Fogging of offices)   

(4) My Department is available to brief the Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation.

Reply:

  (a) (i) 3 241 Water Storage Tanks have been allocated to the Gauteng Province.

 (ii) 3 128 mobile toilets have been allocated to the Gauteng Province.

  (b) The provision of Human Settlements is a concurrent function between National, Provincial and Local Governments. The National Government is, amongst others, responsible for developing policies, programmes, implementation guidelines and the disbursement of grant allocations. The provincial and local spheres of government are inter alia charged with implementing human settlements programmes through targeted projects. The National Department of Human Settlements is working in close collaboration with the Gauteng Province, the Cities of Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that urgent provision is made for the upgrading of informal settlements, which includes the de-densification and decontamination of identified overcrowded areas. The collaboration also ensures that households and individuals living in informal settlements, backyard dwellings and hostels, have access to potable water, ablution facilities, healthcare services, and are trained on maintaining the relevant hygiene practices and all other protocols related to COVID-19.

The Department of Water and Sanitation is responsible for ensuring water security for the whole country. This includes ensuring that water as a resource is allocated equitably and used beneficially in the public interest, while promoting environmental values. Schedule 4B of the Constitution places the function of provision of water services at local government (municipalities). In accordance with the Water Services Act, 1997, which regulates municipal water supply and sanitation services, municipalities deemed to be Water Service Authorities are responsible for ensuring that the right of access to basic water supply and sanitation which mandates that “everyone has a right of access to basic water supply and basic sanitation” is realised. Further, Section 11 of the Water Services Act mandates that “every Water Services Authority has the duty to all consumers or potential consumers in its area of jurisdiction to progressively ensure efficient, affordable, economical and sustainable access to water services.”

The City of Tshwane, like all other municipalities in the province, continues to provide rudimentary services in informal settlements and is also responsible for the delivery of:

• • 252 (10 000 litre capacity) mobile water tankers
  • 492 (5 000 litre capacity) water tanks

The National Department of Water and Sanitation provided:

• 3 (18 000 litre capacity) mobile water tankers
• 407 (5 000 litre capacity) water tanks
• 114 (10 000 litre capacity) water tanks
• 37 (2 500 litre capacity) water tanks which were distributed to various regions.

There are forty seven (47) water tanks that were distributed and are operational in thirteen schools at Hammanskraal in Region 2, Lethabong in Region 5, Kanana in Region 6 and Sokhulumi in Region 7.

In total, there are 492 operational water tanks provided by the City of Tshwane, 457 operational water tanks provided by National Department of Water and Sanitation and 18 operational water tanks donated by other organisations which make a total of 967 operational water tanks.

The City of Tshwane delivered the following sanitation services in its informal settlements:

• a total of 3 935 out of 5 128 chemical toilets have been delivered
• the balance of 1 193 will be delivered in due course

(c) It is envisaged that 16 000 households will benefit from the Upgrading of Informal Settlements Program which includes de-densification- Beneficiaries will either receive Temporary Residential Units (TRUs) or Permanent Housing Units in their current settlements or be relocated as a last resort.

(d) Informal Settlements prioritised for upgrading and or de-densification to promote social distancing practices are identified on the basis of the levels of overcrowding and inadequate provision of basic services.

The targeted overcrowded areas in the province are Alexandra, Ivory Park, Diepsloot, Zandspruit, Khutsong, Pretoria West Informal Settlements, Mamelodi Phomolong Informal Settlements and Mamelodi Hostels. Other areas are likely to be added, depending on the availability of resources.

The land earmarked for de-densification purposes is identified on the basis of proximity to the affected overcrowded informal settlements or spaces. State-owned, which includes municipal-owned land is preferred.

To date, 403 households have been relocated from Khutsong informal settlement into completed housing units at Elijah Barayi Mega Project under the Merafong Local Municipality.

Reply:

Honourable Member, I have been informed that challenges relating to the borehole in Nyanyukani B have been resolved. This was confirmed after a site visit was undertaken by staff of the Department’s Regional Office in Limpopo on 11 May 2020 to the area.

The borehole in Nyanyukani B was initially connected to the community (household) electricity supply. ESKOM resolved that the borehole should have its connection where a transformer was to be installed. The Mopani District Municipality (DM) found the costs of installing transformers to all boreholes to be unaffordable and the borehole was legalized by Eskom without having a transformer.

In 2019 Eskom disconnected all boreholes in the Mopani District without transformers as they were considered to be illegally connected. The Mopani DM submitted a new electricity application for the borehole in 2019.

Upon consultation with the Mopani DM, the Department of Water and Sanitation was informed that the electricity supply to the borehole in Nyanyukani B had been restored and the borehole was back in operation.

Reply:

(a) Through the water balance information submitted by Water Service Authorities (WSAs), the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) makes determinations of water losses. The last comprehensive analysis on water losses and non-revenue water (NRW) was undertaken in 2016/17. The total volume of water lost as a result of leakages from pipes and reservoirs was estimated at 1150.079 million m3/annum at the time.

(b) The table below indicates the ten (10) WSAs that had the highest water losses:

No.	Name of the Water Service Authority
1.	City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality
2.	eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality
3.	City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality
4.	Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality
5.	Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality
6.	City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality
7.	Emfuleni Local Municipality
8.	uThukela District Municipality
9.	Mopani District Municipality
10.	Mbombela Local Municipality

(c) The WSAs are mandated by the Water Services Act, Act 108 of 1997 to prevent and act on water losses within their distribution networks. The Department of Water and Sanitation provides support to municipalities through different programmes to manage the demand and reduce water losses. The various measures being implemented to support municipalities to prevent, reduce and manage water losses include: 

• The No Drop programme which is a tool to regulate municipal performance against set Regulations and best management principles for water loss and demand management. 
• The No Drop Guideline, which focuses on the key requirements (water resource balance diagram, water balance, Water Conservation and Water Demand Management (WCWDM) Strategy) that are building blocks to planning for implementation of WCWDM projects. Municipalities have been trained on the use of the No Drop.
• There is also continuous capacity building programmes on WCWDM for municipalities. Training includes how to benchmark leakages, planning and implementation of WCWDM projects, International Water Association (IWA) water balance methods, etc.
• The Reconciliation and All Towns strategies (intended to ensure the water resource balance) have WCWDM as one of the priority intervention programmes for all municipalities. The Departmental forums and engagements are used to stress the importance of WCWDM aligned to these strategies. In these forums, Municipalities are expected to report on their implementation of WCWDM efforts.
• The Department is also evaluating and commenting on the Water Services Development Plans (WSDPs) and master plans of municipalities. These plans should indicate the actions and interventions designed to conserve water and enhance water demand management.
• The DWS also has various projects that are funded either under Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) or Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG), that also address water losses in municipalities
• The DWS through the cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has built the training centre/ facility for Non-Revenue Water and water losses management. A number of municipality officials have already attended this training.

The Department further monitors water losses within the 8 (eight) largest water supply systems on an annual basis. The 8 large Water Supply Systems (WSS) supply water to the 8 metropolitan municipalities and other major cities. These areas serve 33.9 million people, which is equivalent to 57 % of the country’s total population. The total input volume in these areas is about 2 662 661 000 m³/a compared with national 4 046 463 000 m³/a (65 % total urban water consumption). These are areas of economic significance with the total gross value added of between 20-40%. 

Reply:

Ward 11 of uMfolozi Municipality receives water from Nseleni Bulk Water Supply Pipeline through the Nseleni Pump Station, which receives its supply from the City of uMhlathuze. The existing Nseleni bulk water pipeline supplies water to Upper Nseleni, Khoza, Nseleni Town and KwaMbonambi areas. This pipeline is connected to the Mandlazini bulk reservoirs in Richards Bay with the Mzingazi Water Treatment Works (WTW) connected to the Mzingazi Lake as the source. The water supply from Nseleni is currently pumped for 18 - 24hrs/day into two reservoirs, the Shandu/Baqoge and Mawombe Reservoirs.

In addition, there are four operational boreholes within the aforementioned Ward. The Cinci borehole near Mawombe Stadium has one standpipe.

There are a number of illegal connections in the area that have a negative effect on the water supply to the Shandu/Baqoge and Mawombe Reservoirs. There is an area known as Mgababa located in-between the abovementioned reservoirs that does not have a reticulation system. The community in Mgababa has connected illegally on the rising main to Mawombe Reservoir resulting in the Mawombe reservoir receiving limited water.

The Councillor together with the strike committee members have been engaged to assist in dealing with the illegal connections. However, more illegal connections have been made to the pumping main, cutting water supply to the Mawombe reservoir. The situation is exacerbated by the limited water supply from the City of uMhlathuze because the area was affected by the drought.

The King Cetshwayo District Municipality is planning to augment bulk water supply to the Cinci area through the installation of an additional reservoir between the two existing reservoirs to service the Mgababa area thereby releasing water to the Mawombe Reservoir. This project will be implemented in 2021.

While the uMfolozi Municipality is attending to all water supply challenges within its area of jurisdiction, the priority is to address backlogs in areas where there is no water supply infrastructure services. These areas are currently being serviced through water tankers.

Reply:

The Department of Water and Sanitation has taken all the necessary steps to address the challenges that resulted in the late submission of the 2018/19 Annual Report to Parliament. The 2019/20 Annual Report will be tabled in accordance with the legislated timeframe.

Reply:

A series of multi-year droughts in South Africa has seen a number of small towns threatened by total water supply failures and the Free State province is no exception. Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality is one of the municipalities that were faced with drought challenges. Various drought intervention projects were identified to address water supply issues in the Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality.

The Sedibeng Water Board was appointed as the implementing agent for the priority projects identified. The projects were identified at a total estimated cost of R180 700 000.00. Due to the magnitude of the projects and limited funding, the projects are implemented over two (2) financial years. An amount of R54 034 700 was allocated for implementation of projects in the Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality in the 2019/2020 financial year. The Department of Water and Sanitation has allocated R126 665 300.00 in the 2020/2021 financial year for the completion of the projects.

A total of six (6) priority projects have been identified and are being implemented through the drought intervention programme. Table 1 below gives an indication on the progress of priority projects including the costs to date.

Table 1: Summary of Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality drought intervention projects

Local Municipality	Project Description	Communities to be served	Total Project Budget	Project budget for 2019/20	Project budget for 2020/21	Project Start & End date	Status of Project
FS:Thabo Mofutsanyana:Maluti-A-Phofung --FS194	Development of Ground water in Qwaqwa. Equipping of boreholes and package plant	Qwaqwa	R47 000 000	R10 000 000	R37 000 000	Start (Planned): Jan 2020 End (Planned): October 2020	Phase 2 of the project is currently under construction. Two contractors have been appointed to equip five (5) boreholes each – total of 10. The project is currently in progress. The project is at 68% progress
FS:Thabo Mofutsanyana:Maluti-A-Phofung --FS194	Immediate water supply in Qwaqwa: Procurement and leasing of water tankers and 5000 Jojo tanks	Qwaqwa: (Population: 335,784)	R50 000 000	R20 000 000	R30 000 000	Start (Planned): 21 Jan 2020 End (Planned): August 2020	1349 out 2000 Delivered With only 353 Permanent Installations. The progress is at 40% progress.
FS:Thabo Mofutsanyana:Maluti-A-Phofung --FS194	Construction of Comet to Ha Rankopane Pipeline (+- 5 km)	Ha-Rankopane: (Population: 2,505) Mandela Park including industrial areas (Population: 1,506)	R15 000 000	R5 000 000	R10 000 000	Start (Planned): 21 Jan 2020 End (Planned): 30 July 2020	3.7km of uPVC laid to date. The project is at 85% progress.
FS:Thabo Mofutsanyana:Maluti-A-Phofung --FS194	Reversal – Increase Pipeline from 160 mm to 400 mm diameter (+- 3km) in Qwaqwa	Qwaqwa: (Population: 335,784)	R12 000 000	R5 000 000	R7 000 000	Start (Planned): 27 Jan 2020 End (Planned): Aug 2020	1.5km of the 3km pipeline laid. The project is at 60% progress.
FS:Thabo Mofutsanyana:Maluti-A-Phofung --FS194	Repairs of the Mangaung Showgrounds to Thaba Bosiu Pipeline (+- 16 km)	Mangaung: (Population: 9,151) Thaba Bosiu: (Population: 2,935)	R33 700 000	R5 000 000	R28 700 000	Start (Planned): 17 Apr 2020 End (Planned): Sept 2021	PDR and Detailed Design Report completed and Approved. RFQ to appoint contractor in progress. 100% Planning and design. The project is at 42% progress.
FS:Thabo Mofutsanyana:Maluti-A-Phofung --FS194	Water conservation and water demand management Repair of valves, pipelines and leakages	Qwaqwa: (Population: 335,784)	R23 000 000	R9 034 700	R13 965 300	Start (Planned): 27 Jan 2020 End (Planned): Dec 2020	PDR and Detailed Design Report completed and Approved. RFQ to appoint contractor in progress. The project is at 40% progress.
Total	R180 700 000	R54 034 700	R126 665 300		56%

The six (6) priority projects are approximately 56% complete. The implementation of the projects began in January 2020, which was the last quarter of the 2019/2020 financial year. Five (5) out of the six (6) priority projects will be completed within the current financial year.

During the implementation of projects, water tankering was identified as an immediate intervention while project are still under construction. The Department of Water and Sanitation, through Sedibeng Water, contributed a total of 25 water tankers/trucks, each with a capacity of 16,000 litres through the Maluti-A-Phofung Drought Intervention Programme. The Maluti-A-Phofung Local Municipality has also allocated a total of 49 water trucks through their service providers.

 

Reply:

Department of Human Settlements:

The Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation has one (1) Ministerial Advisory Panel that is attached to the Department of Human Settlements. It consists of six members and was appointed in terms of the Housing Act, 107 of 1997.

The remuneration of the Ministerial Advisory Panel (MAP) is based on section 20 of the Treasury Regulations for departments, constitutional institutions and public entities of 2001. The remuneration rates of the MAP members is set on category S as provided for in the 2019 Remuneration Levels: Service Benefit Packages for Office-Bearers of Certain Statutory and Other Institutions.

Department of Water and Sanitation:

Section 76 (1) of the Water Services Act, 1997and section 99(1) of the National Water Service Act, 1998 empowers the Minister to establish advisory committees. These Committee are established to inter alia advise the Minister and Director General on the stabilisation and efficient functioning of the Water Sector.

The Department of Water and Sanitation has a total of three advisory committees as follows:

• Water Advisory Committee;
• Water Stabilisation Committee; and
• Water Services Committee.

Honourable Member, I am constrained and prohibited by the document titled “Guide to Parliamentary Questions in the National Assembly” from providing the names of each person serving in the Panel of Advisors as requested. The document referred to states that:

“Questions are to be framed as concisely as possible. All unnecessary adjectives, references and quotations are omitted. Names of persons, bodies and, for example, newspapers are only used in questions if the facts surrounding the case have been proven. As the mere mention of such names could be construed as publicity for or against them, it should be clear that this practice is highly undesirable. If a question will be unintelligible without mentioning such names, the Departments concerned are notified of the name (-s) and this phrase is used: ".......a certain person (name furnished)”.