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Portance and sanitation infrastructure is rapidly deteriorating, prompting the South African
Human Rights Commission, SHRC, to issue a warning of a national disaster that are in
the making.
The Commission called for urgent government intervention, as follows the release of the
Department of Water and Sanitation 2025 Green Drop Reports.
This report assesses a waste water treatment system across the country.
Joining us down the line, we have Human Rights Commission Hank Boschoff, Hank a very good
morning to you and welcome.
Good morning, thank you for adding me.
Explain to our listeners what exactly is this green drop report and what does it tell us
about water infrastructure in South Africa?
Well, firstly, the Minister for Water and Sanitation released the green drop, the blue drop
and the no drop reports on the 31st of March.
Now the purpose of these reports is basically to assess the performance of water services
authorities or municipalities in drinking drinking water quality, wastewater management
treatment, as well as water conservation and demand management.
Now the last report that was released was in 2022 or reports that were released in 2022
and it was reinstated by government, it was altered for a short while, but it's a helpful
tool in understanding what the quality of our drinking water is, how waste water is
being managed by water services authorities and municipalities, and it also exists in
the Constitution, it's like the South African Human Rights Commission in the exercise and
oversight responsibility to hold the relevant authorities accountable.
How bad is it?
I mean, they talk about nearly half of the country's waste water infrastructure, teetering on
the brink of failure.
Does the report give any indication as to why and on how to fix it?
Yeah, the purpose is very bad to answer your question.
Just if one looks at the report on the Department of Water and Sanitation,
40, 49% of water treatment works in South Africa is in a critical state,
which is very serious and if water, the waste water treatment works and waste water treatment in
general, if it is not managed competently, effectively, efficiently, then obviously it has a
serious effect on the environment and remember one of the objects in terms of the Constitution
is that everyone in South Africa or the object of local government is that everyone in South
Africa is entitled to a clean and safe environment, but if water, waste water is not treated properly
and if it is discharged into the environment and treated, then obviously there's a risk
of effecting the health of everyone in South Africa.
Where does the buck stop yank?
Well, it's very important that we hold water services authorities, that we hold municipalities,
and that we hold government in general accountable, which simply cannot allow a situation
where the health of South Africa is at risk. Secondly, where the quality of the
quality of drinking water, where the quality of drinking water is very poor. In many municipalities,
these South Africa, you've also seen that in the blue drop reports, we need to hold government
accountable, we need to insist that they provide adequate services to communities and from,
as the Human Rights Commission, we have done that. We have conducted quite a few inquiries
in South Africa in almost all the provinces now in the country. The next one will be in
halting during May and inquiry into water provision, but we've had inquiries in the
pre-state Northern Cape North, there's KZN, Bumalanga, Lepopo. We've held the Pina hearings,
investigated inquiries, and we've settled all our reports in legislatures and also parliament
on a regular basis. The portfolio committee on corporate governments as well as the select committee
and the national council of provinces based on the reports issued by the Human Rights Commission
have visited provinces and they're also playing there, the site role in holding municipalities
and also your water services authorities accountable, but along in the short is we should
hold as communities as civil society, as chapter nine institutions, we should continue to hold
government accountable. Indeed, thank you so much for your time and for chatting to us, appreciate it.
