By Simon Nare
The ANC is threatening to revoke water licences of private companies and farmers who it says are monopolising the flow of water and denying access to surrounding communities.
Addressing reporters at the end of the ANC national executive committee lekgotla meeting in Ekurhuleni on Sunday, Water and Sanitation Minister Pamela Majodina said that nobody had the right to divert water and deny communities access to this essential natural resource.
The party’s NEC is meeting to discuss challenges facing the organisation and the country, and how to take advantage of South Africa’s chairmanship of the G20 meeting, which will be held later this year.
“The water licence is very clear; it has do’s and don’ts. That is why when there [was a] collapse of four to five tanks in the Riverland last year, we had to come in and say this what is supposed to be done. So, there is this tendency that we have seen occur… that while people have a right to apply for water licences for use, but they must not inconvenience anyone,” she said told reporters.
Majodina said her department had learnt through a commission in Limpopo that farmers were monopolising the flow of water to communities and using it for their own interests.
“We are saying that is not on. The Water Act allows us to act immediately. We may even go to the extent of destroying the licence if we have met the people concerned and they are not changing a particular attitude.
“No one has a right to monopolise water,” the minister warned.
She also highlighted the shortage of skills in the management of water, saying there were not enough civil engineers in the country and a skills audit needed to be conducted.
Majodina called on residents and companies to continue to use water sparingly.
On the controversial R100-billion Transformation Fund, Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau said the matter was being blown out of proportion as discussions were still at a consultation stage.
The fund has raised eyebrows, with accusations levelled against the ANC that the co-governing party has not consulted other members of the Government of National Unity.
Tau said the issue of the fund came up in the National Assembly where an MP questioned whether it was being discussed in the department and he confirmed it was.
“Are we discussing it? Yes, we are discussing it. Has it been discussed in Cabinet, in government? No, it has not because it is still in the DTIC. It will go to other departments for engagements. And it will go to societies for engagements,” he said.
Tau said earlier in the week that the purpose of the fund would be to ensure that existing contributions made to comply with the BEE Codes of Good Practice were strategically utilised.
Tau first publicly mentioned the fund late last year during a Parliamentary portfolio committee meeting.
It is intended to be a new mechanism that will be administered through a special purpose vehicle within the National Empowerment Fund to finance black-owned businesses.
In response to the Parliamentary question, Tau said that the revenue for the fund would be raised through adjustments to the BEE Codes of Good Practice and the Competition Act.
Companies that currently comply with the enterprise and supplier development component of the codes contribute 3% of after-tax revenue to majority-black-owned companies in their supply chain.
While compliance with this provision was not mandatory, it would earn a company BEE points on its scorecard.
Under the proposal, companies could contribute the fund if they wanted to comply.
The meeting, which ends on Monday, comes ahead of the Cabinet lekgotla that feeds into the State of the Nation Address next month.
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