Finance minister Enoch Godongwana announced yesterday that the establishment of the National Water Resources Infrastructure Agency was close to becoming a reality.
This will improve the management of bulk water infrastructure and resources.
Godongwana said financial modelling had been done, adding it was in the drafting stages.
Residents from all over SA have in recent years been plagued by water cuts, some arising from low dam levels and water leaks due to old infrastructure. In the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality and in Johannesburg, residents have had to go days without water due to pump station problems.
Former president of the SA Institution of Civil Engineering, Dr Chris Herald, previously estimated that water leaks contributed about 33.6% of water loss in municipalities.
Herald said a third of the water that was suppose to come through the taps was being lost.
Godongwana also announced the application process for issuing single-use water licences was being fast-tracked to meet the 90-day target by March 2022.
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