DA welcomes the appointment of water ambassadors

DA welcomes the appointment of water ambassadors

The DA welcomes the appointment of water ambassadors by the Mbombela Executive Mayor, Sibusiso Mathonsi.

Mbombela has suffered great losses of revenue when taking into consideration the Auditors report for 2012 which indicates

that 41.4% of the total piped water was lost.  This directly influences service delivery to the rural communities.

The Executive Mayor has taken steps to implement a turn-around strategy and appoint a task team of local residents as part of the Expanded Public Works Program (EPWP) to monitor and report on water system failures or malfunctions.  The main function of these water monitors is to assist in the monitoring of water supply, monitoring the functionality of boreholes and

water tankers and to report any corruption with regards to the delivery of water.

Good communication between end users and the relevant departments within Mbombela via way of either ward councillors or the proposed "water monitors" is vital for this envisaged proposal to be successful. 

According to the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Mpumalanga has been allocated R182 million to develop bulk infrastructure and an amount of R13.528 million has also been allocated from the Accelerated Community Infrastructure Programme to implement water conservation and water demand management.

The DA has fought a long, hard battle to get municipal water and sanitation departments to be accountable for the non-delivery of clean water to all areas.  We hope that this new initiative will see the majority of Mbombela residents being able to receive clean uninterrupted water and that the Department will utilise the monies allocated to them to make vast improvements to the overall water system in Mbombela.