Outcomes of Ministerial Workshop

The Western Cape government held a Minister and Mayors Meeting in Worcester today where water resources in the Western Cape was on the agenda.

National Minister of Water Affairs and Sanitation, Nomvula Mokonyane delivered the keynote address providing a National Perspective on long term strategy for Water Supply and Sanitation within the Western Cape.

Anton Bredell, Provincial Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, who hosted the event, said the goal of the meeting was to highlight the status of Water and Sanitation within the Western Cape and to provide a platform for the National Minster to share her development vision, strategy and priorities for the province. 

“The provincial government spheres had the opportunity to engage directly with the national minister. We discussed possible areas of collaboration, support and partnerships between all three spheres of government.”
Bredell says the meeting went well. 

“The big topics of conversation was financing and bulk infrastructure. Alternative solutions to addressing backlogs in sanitation, water and other bulk infrastructure was also discussed.

“We must develop ways to get local government structures and national government to take hands together in partnerships to cooperate better into the future.”

Bredell says officials attending the meeting were reminded about the importance of water and the scarcity of the resource.

“We realized we are all spoilt. We open a tap and water comes out. People tend to daily throw litres of fresh clean water down drains or use it to flush toilets. They forget water is a scarce resource and it is getting increasingly more so. We cannot continue like this. Alternatives must be developed.”

Bredell says the conversation with Minister Mokonyane was constructive and got the message across that change is needed. 

“It cannot be business as usual when it comes to our water resources.”
The conversation will now be taken to provincial engineering and financial forums to be further debated.