Parliament discusses water service delivery and borehole failures in Mpumalanga
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During a meeting of Parliament’s water and sanitation portfolio committee, MPs pressed the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) on the effectiveness of billions of rand spent on water projects, highlighting systemic failures in service delivery. MK Party MP Visvin Reddy and DA MP Stephen Moore presented accounts of residents lacking basic sanitation and the widespread failure of operational boreholes. Minister David Mahlobo defended the department's progress, noting that 400 projects were currently intended to support municipal water services, while Deputy Minister Jack Bloom emphasized that local government leadership issues remained a core concern.
Consequences
The DWS and municipal authorities face mounting pressure to address the disparity between infrastructure funding and actual service functionality. The situation remains tied to broader concerns regarding municipal staffing and the ongoing, multi-agency effort required to resolve the systemic dysfunction within the sector.
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