CAPE TOWN, May (ANA) - International environmental organisation Greenpeace Africa has launched a petition calling on South African president Cyril Ramaphosa to put water at the centre of all government decision-making, this as it emerged on Wednesday that the country's water and sanitation department had run up R6.4 billion in irregular expenditure.
The auditor-general reported to parliament on Wednesday that irregular expenditure at the department had rocketed from R4 billion to R6.4 billion.
In response to the development, Greenpeace Africa senior climate and energy campaign manager Melita Steele said: “The massive irregular expenditure at the department of water and sanitation is just one more reason for water to become central to all government decision-making. In the face of devastating water scarcity and one of the worst droughts in living memory, it can no longer be one department’s responsibility to ensure that water is adequately managed in South Africa.”
Steele added that Greenpeace Africa believed that water was a fundamental human right and which people could not live without, “and we must make sure that people’s right to water is put first and protected”.
“This is why we have launched a petition calling on President Ramaphosa to clearly prioritise water as a human right. We are asking the President to lead a process where administrative and policy steps are taken that will mandate government departments, agencies, and entities to place water at the centre of all their decision-making processes.
“We need to radically rethink our relationship to and management of water. Water as a fundamental human right must become more than just rhetoric. While the rains in Cape Town may slowly be starting, we must keep water sharply in focus. Water scarcity is an ongoing significant challenge as climate change is likely to worsen."
Hours following AG's report to parliament, the department hit out at the reports of the irregular expenditure, saying such figures were premature as the auditing process had not yet been completed.
In a statement, the DWS said that it would like to put it on record that the financials that would have indicated such an escalation or even a decline were still in the process of finalisation, with the end date of May 31, 2018.
- African News Agency (ANA)
