ANC to get tough on private water licences

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,