Deputy Minister Sello Seitlholo engages with Agri North West on water security in North West
Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, Sello Seitlholo lead a stakeholder engagement with Agri North West in efforts to foster relations with the agricultural sector in Lichtenburg on Monday, 26 August 2024.
The meeting with Agri North West dealt with several issues such as the state of water in the province, pollution of water resources, maintenance of water infrastructure, water use licensing, amongst others.
During his address, Deputy Minister Seitlholo highlighted that he will ensure that the issue of Water Use Association documentation raised by Agri North West during the meeting is signed and gazetted by the Minister of Water and Sanitation.
“We must see how best the legal battle between the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and Agri North West can be addressed out of court. This legal battle relates to water tariffs which according to Agri North West are high and impacts badly on food security and production”, said Seitlholo.
Deputy Minister Seitlholo also indicated that it is important to work together with stakeholders such as Agri North West because they have solutions and implementation strategies which the government does not have.
“This kind of public private partnership can assist us as government to be able to secure our water and sanitation infrastructure from vandalism. We need to address the issues of pollution to protect our water resources by ensuring that we open criminal cases against those who continue to pollute our water resources”, said Seitlholo.
According to Willem de Chavonnes Vrugt, the President of Agri North West, farming enterprises in the North West are experiencing water challenges with municipalities.
“We have challenges with unregulated water usage, access to clean water, the different schemes which are not standardized to ensure affordability so that as farmers we can produce more food. There is also a challenge water licensing and regulation as well as monitoring of pollution in the water resources”, said de Chavonnes Vrugt.
For more information, contact:
Andile Tshona
Cell: 073 566 3345
E-mail: tshonaa@dws.gov.za.
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