Water and Sanitation Dept considering amendments to Water Service Act

JOHANNESBURG - The Water and Sanitation Department is considering amendments to the Water Service Act to ensure compliance from municipalities.

The department says many municipalities are failing to deliver on their mandate to provide clean and safe water.

READ: Dept of Education putting measures in place for Hammanskraal school water supply

This comes amid the cholera outbreak that has killed twenty-three people in Hammanskraal.

Residents have been raising the issue of the quality of water for years in the area but nothing has been done.

READ: Tshwane mayor says water is not the only source of potential cholera

The Department's Director-General Sean Phillips explained.

"The underlying problem is weaknesses in governance at municipal level… This week we will issue a Blue Drop Water Report which will indicate there’s been a deterioration in water services… Many municipalities are struggling to institute that constitutional obligation."

"The solution is strengthening our role as the regulator and perhaps bring in some legal amendments to the Water Services Act.”