Pretoria - New initiatives are in the pipeline to assist municipalities in their management of waste water treatment works.
Releasing the findings of the 2009 Green Drop assessment on Thursday, Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said the report confirmed the need for the improvement of waste water services and required pioneering initiatives that would result in a sustainable turnaround.
"The upgrading of waste water treatment works is already a priority of government and forms part of its Programme of Action," Sonjica said.
According to the report, out of 449 treatment plants assessed, only 7 percent were classified as excellently managed, 38 percent scored between 50 and 89 percent measured against the stringent set criteria, while 45 percent of plants performed within acceptable standards.
As part of the department's turnaround initiatives, Sonjica said the department has commissioned assistance from waste water specialists in the United Kingdom to assist with improving at least six water service authorities.
The department will also participate in the joint process between National Treasury and relevant departments to formulate a bulk infrastructure and refurbishment grant.
"(Other) initiatives include providing 162 municipalities with waste water risk profiles for structured planning informing the integrated development planning processes and initiating litigation, where the regulatory process was found to be unsuccessful," Sonjica said.
The department will also partner with the Siyenza Manje Project administered by the Development Bank of Southern Africa to get retired engineers to help assist municipalities where no technical skills were employed.
According to the report, the municipalities that performed excellently were the Mbombela Municipality, eThekwini Municipality, City of Tshwane, City of Cape Town, City of Johannesburg and George Local Municipality.
Sonjica attributed the success of these municipalities to a strong revenue base and being able to employ and retain necessary skills, while some municipalities especially in rural areas and smaller towns, had no capacity to employ skilled people.
Responding to comments that the country was in a crisis, Sonjica said: "We have reason to be concerned; we haven't reach the crisis level, if we were in a crisis, we would have outbreak diseases but we are not there and will not get there."
An amount of R23 billion is needed to overhaul the situation in the assessed municipalities, which were found to be in distress.
