Water and Sanitation Indaba addresses catastrophic state of South Africa's infrastructure

702 and CapeTalk’s Africa Melane speaks with Dr Kevin Winter of the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science at the University of Cape Town.

Listen below:

The National Water and Sanitation Indaba is underway in Midrand.

The Indaba aims to find solutions to our water security challenges and ensure reliable, sustainable water and sanitation services for all people in South Africa.

Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina says the primary reason for our water challenges is infrastructure damage.

Winter notes there have been lags in investing in infrastructure, especially in municipalities where the supply and distribution of water is a huge problem.

“If you lived in parts of Tshwane for instance this last week, and you have not had water for 10 days, it really is a catastrophe.”

- Dr Kevin Winter, Department of Environmental and Geographical Science - UCT

R23 billion is being invested in water infrastructure through the National Infrastructure Fund, however, Winter argues that this is nowhere near enough.

The master plan for South Africa’s water, developed in 2018, considered investing R900 billion by 2030, but the country is still far from reaching that goal.

Winter says President Cyril Ramaphosa has hinted at getting the private sector involved in water infrastructure development and planning.

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“I am not seeing that happening fast enough.”

- Dr Kevin Winter, Department of Environmental and Geographical Science - UCT

Another issue noted by Ramaphosa is the intentional destruction of water infrastructure for profit by companies that supply water during shortages.

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview for more.