Task team appointed to resolve Limpopo water problems

Johannesburg - Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane has appointed a task team to resolve water problems around Giyani in Limpopo, her office said on Friday.

"The minister appointed a designated project manager through [the] Lepelle Water Board to take over all water-related matters and the delivery thereof," spokesperson Brenda Mpitsang said in a statement.

"She gave the task team until the end of September 2014 to ensure that the affected communities have access to quality water."

Mokonyane had addressed the Greater Giyani municipality community, where Deputy Water and Sanitation Minister Pam Tshwete, Co-operative Governance MEC Makoma Makhurupetja, and the Mopani district municipality Mayor Nkakareng Rakgoale were also in attendance.

"It cannot be that people have access to clean water in affluent suburbs while the people of Mopani don't enjoy the same rights. You are equal citizens of this country and you have the right to access water as any other South African," Mokonyane told the community.

Mpitsang said Mokonyane told residents that civil servants were giving her misleading progress reports about the state of water in Mopani district.

"Minister Mokonyane said between August and September her department would audit all water resources, including boreholes, with a view to improving and upgrading them to ensure sustainable water provision."

In addition, the minister said the community needed to take ownership of the water infrastructure by safeguarding it to prevent theft and vandalism.