The government of national unity (GNU) is going through a teething problem. The budget vote impasse signalled the start of more contests that will define the seventh administration if political maturity among the parties in the GNU is nonexistent.
With the GNU soon reaching one year in office, it is quite clear that for the seventh administration to work effectively, all the parties must have an agreed programme of action and priority areas.
There is no doubt that all the parties in the GNU, and even those on the opposition benches, can agree that the provision of long-denied basic services should form a huge part of the government’s programme of action.
While the country faces so many crises that require urgent intervention from the new government, the GNU should, as part of its programme of action, focus on some of the key issues that have been crying out for urgent intervention from the government, namely the provision of water and fighting against gender-based violence (GBV).
These are the issues that have long defined the failures of successive democratic administrations. The police’s crime statistics paint a bleak picture of a continuous war waged against women and children, while Stats SA’s census reports since 1996 to date continue to show that the right to access to water for citizens, in particular for people in rural areas, is only guaranteed on paper.
Section 27 (1) (b) of the constitution is unambiguous in guaranteeing everyone the right to access to water. However, this is one right that many people are yet to enjoy three decades into our democratic dispensation.
Many communities in rural areas in provinces such as Limpopo, the North West, and the Eastern Cape still do not have access to water. It is concerning that poor leadership in many municipalities has now also seen cities such as Johannesburg being denied this right.
While it is the responsibility of municipalities to provide access to water and not the national department of water and sanitation, minister Pemmy Majodina should do something her predecessors have all failed to do.
Majodina should not only provide consistent oversight on these municipalities but ensure that all uncompleted bulk water projects that were left by her predecessors are completed. The Giyani water project in Limpopo, which was supposed to be completed by 2017, remains incomplete, resulting in several villages being unable to access water.
We have allowed the municipalities to do the bare minimum for years, and it is time for the national government to use its oversight powers to force them to act with speed on the provision of water.
I was left disappointed a couple of weeks ago when district and local municipalities in Limpopo were given awards at the SA Local Government Association awards ceremony for “achieving a clean audit opinion”, “avoiding unauthorised expenditure”, and “avoiding fruitless and wasteful expenditure”, while millions of people there are still without water.
At the recent 2025 water and sanitation indaba, which was yet another talk shop, Majodina was right that the buck stops with municipalities in providing water to South Africans. However, the question that remains is what should she – as the minister responsible for the realisation of this basic need – do to make sure that municipalities deliver?
Violence against women and children has long been declared a pandemic by President Cyril Ramaphosa and should be another priority area. Section 12, (1) (c) of the constitution is clear that everyone has a right “to be free from all forms of violence.” However, successive governments have failed women and children in this regard.
Police minister Senzo Mchunu has a responsibility to ensure that the police are more proactive against violent crimes committed against women and children. The problem needs more than just legislative interventions, it needs proactive and evidence-based policing.
In my presentation to the evidence-based policing conference last year, I proposed the revival of community street committees through community violent crimes desks. These would conduct workshops on how communities can play their part in encouraging victims of violent crimes such as rape, assault and GBV to report such cases to the police and would see both them and the police collaborating to effectively and proactively fight against such crimes.
- Kekana is a freelance journalist and researcher at the Helen Suzman Foundation. He writes in his personal capacity.
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