The Minister of Water and Sanitation, Nomvulo Mokonyane, was in Buffalo City on Thursday to inspect some of the projects aimed at providing decent sanitation in informal settlements.
She told Algoa FM News that the Eastern Cape has the second largest number of bucket toilets still in operation in the country.
She explains some of the new initiatives that government is looking at to address this issue.
"What is good in the Eastern Cape is that there are pockets of excellence. Here in Buffalo City today (Thurs) we went to see some of the projects that they are busy with in terms of provision of decent sanitation in the informal settlements and we are also quite aware that there is a backlog of sanitation in the Eastern Cape. The Eastern Cape is the second largest province that has got a huge backlog," said Mokonyane
"Part of what we are looking at is with the challenges of water availability we are working on alernative technology, bringing toilets and other systems that are not going to be highly dependent on water. We are also looking at upgrading the existing infrastructure, like today we went to see the work that is being done by the Department together with Buffalo City Metro on the upgrade of the East Bank Water Treatment Works," she said.
Minister Mokonyane, said she would be meeting with Premier Phumulo Masualle.
This, as part of ongoing government efforts on working with province in developing a sustainable water management plan.
"In the spirit of cooperative governance national government has to work together with provincial and local authorities and what we are here (Eastern Cape) about is to work towards an integrated, long-term plan of water and sanitation in this particular province. So, we do not work in silos. We must agree on where we are going to prioritise. We must assess where we have worked but most importantly we must also plan together," said Minister Mokonyane.
