Western Cape Government welcomes SCOPA probe into Department of Water
27 February 2018
The Western Cape Government welcomes the announcement of a full parliamentary inquiry into the finances of the bankrupt Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS). This was announced by the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) today.
Financial mismanagement within the DWS has had a severe impact on water security and the delivery of bulk water infrastructure in the Western Cape and elsewhere in the country.
Premier Zille said: "Although bulk water supply is its mandate, the DWS has not made funding available for augmentation in this crisis, because the national Treasury has literally turned off their funding tap following a disastrous audit outcome".
"As a result, the City of Cape Town has stepped into the breach with aquifer extraction, water reuse and desalination projects to the tune of some R5,9-billion over the 5-year Medium Term Revenue Expenditure Framework. The provincial government, operating on a very constrained budget, has also diverted over R369 million from our core functions to supplement disaster funding since 2015/16.", said Premier Zille.