Themba Khumalo
Mankosiphethe Ntuntuma is an elderly woman. She does not know her own age. She lives in the impoverished village of Qhaka, a sparsely populated village near Port St Johns, Eastern Cape. She has never been employed. Her life has always been misererable.
That was until last Saturday when the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (Dwaf) announced she was the seven millionth South African to receive portable water. Tears of joy rolled down her cheeks.
President Thabo Mbeki was to meet Ntuntuma. Unfortunately heavy rains prevented him from visiting Qhaka, denying Ntuntuma an opportunity to meet him. This turn of events did not, however, dampen the spirit of the people of Qhaka. To them rain is a symbol of good luck and so they celebrated. “Rain or no rain, we are celebrating,” they sang.
For the department, Qhaka is not the end of delivery. Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Ronnie Kasrils has committed his department to spending R1,1-billion a year for the delivery of water and sanitation.
“As I pointed out in my budget vote speech in May, we expect to have delivered water to all South Africans by 2008/2009,” Kasrils said.
Rural communities have christened Kasrils “Motlalepule” among the Sothos and “Nomvula” in KwaZulu-Natal. The names, which mean the one who brings rain or water, were bandied about after his visits to the rural areas coincided with downpours. Qhaka was no exception.
Kasrils said in terms of Masibambane, a Dwaf project that seeks to forge effective partnership between Dwaf and other water-sector stakeholders, 2,4-million people in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Province will receive water and sanitation services over the next three years.
Dwaf has been guiding and assisting local government to formulate and approve water services development plans (WSDP) in accordance with the water services Act and as part of the amalgamated integrated development plans. Through Masibambane, the focus has been on WSDP development as part of the government’s integrated sustainable rural development strategy.
The Msibambane programme is operating in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Province. The target over the next three years is to transfer 480 schemes to water-service authorities.
The Masibambane target is to establish functioning water service authorities in 50% of each region and water-services providers in 80% of the identified communities.
The programme’s success will be measured by the extent to which water-services planning is integrated with provincial and local government planning processes.
It is against this background that the people of Qhaka gathered to celebrate with such enthusiasm.
Themba Khumalo is the media liaison officer in the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
ENDS