17 SEPTEMBER 1999
Issued by Ministry of Water Affairs and Forestry
The Honourable Premier, Ndaweni Mahlangu
The Portuguese Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Co-
operation, Mr Luis Amado
The Ambassador, Dr Pereira and members of your delegation
Members of the Executive Council
Members of the local Council
Traditional Leaders
Ladies and gentlemen
I wish to take this opportunity to extend my greetings to all of you. I am delighted to be part of the ceremony to officially open the Matsulu Water Purification works. It is always a pleasure, Premier, to visit this beautiful, energetic province. And I am really honoured to be able to join Senhor Luis Amado, "muito bem vindo Senhor Secretario do Estado."
The Project we have come to open is a symbolic one. It is a symbol of the determination of the government of President Mbeki to ensure that all South Africans in town, city and countryside have access to the basic water supply and sanitation services demanded by the Constitution.
It is a symbol of my Department’s commitment to help local government perform effectively the functions with which it has been entrusted.
More than that, it is a symbol of partnership. Partnership between the Government and people of Portugal and South Africa. Partnership between the public sector of Portugal, embodied in IPE - Aguas de Portugal and the local, provincial and national spheres of government in South Africa.
At a time when President Thabo Mbeki is calling on us to further the African renaissance this project is an important symbol of the new pattern of relations that is developing between our countries and our neighbour Mozambique. Located as it is on the Maputo corridor it is a symbol of the new history we are writing in our region.
It is for this reason, I understand, your Excellency, that your co-operation fund chose to focus your support in Matsulu, in the heart of the corridor.
The project we are opening today takes us an important step forward on the long road to ensuring that the services we provide are sustainable. We cannot just build reservoirs and lay pipes. We must organise to ensure that the water continues to flow from the taps, tomorrow, next month, next year.
The task of doing that is made more difficult by our crazy apartheid legacy, the legacy that has placed Matsulu, a so-called suburb of Nelspruit, so far from Nelspruit city hall.
Nelspruit Municipality is, as you know, taking pioneering steps forward in implementing the separation between the governance job of a water service authority and the operational job of a water service provider. This separation is a key concept in our water service legislation.
To make that possible, my Department committed itself to make essential upgrades to the existing over loaded infrastructure in places like Matsulu. Without that, we were told, a new service provider would not be able to offer an affordable service to the people.
We did however face severe constraints in meeting that commitment. While the privileged of South Africa were adequately covered with water services the townships and rural areas were disgracefully neglected. In 1994 we inherited 12 million people without basic water supplies and further 21 million people without basic sanitation. My Department’s Community Water Programme was established in 1994 with a view to address this backlog and we have began to break the back of this problem with the provision of water to over 4 million people.
Faced with this large challenge, the provision of finance to serve the poor people of Matsulu B, up there on the hill, could have been delayed for years.
Generous assistance from Portugal has helped us to make good on our commitment.
This treatment works that we are commissioning today will provide water to areas of Matsulu formerly not supplied and will be operated by the Department until it is finally transferred to the Greater Nelspruit Council by October next year. This will empower the council to meet its obligation to the community and eventually enable them to appoint a service provider to take responsibility for running the services effectively.
We hope that this assistance, which has created an asset owned by the Community, will be viewed by them as an investment through which they will transform their quality of life. Nelspruit Council must ensure that this asset is properly maintained, and that there is equity in the distribution of the benefits flowing from it. If this is to happen, there must be real partnership among all stakeholders.
The significance of the contribution by the Portuguese Government Senhor Amado Secretary, cannot be over-emphasised. We are privileged to have received this grant and really look forward to further collaboration with your government and its agencies. Water projects are always catalysts for local economic development. This project will have multiplier effects well beyond local borders, among which will be the attraction of foreign investment and mobilisation of domestic investment as well.
The involvement of IPE / Aguas de Portugal as an integral contributor to the process will, we hope help you identify opportunities for further engagement in our water sector.
I must highlight that the initiatives taken by the Nelspruit Council are an important test case for new approaches to providing services. The approach has already been the subject of much interest and debate in South Africa and its outcome will determine whether we will go further down this road. In particular, we will be paying close attention to determine whether bringing in private providers increases efficiency and results in services which are fair and equitable. As important stakeholders, we hope you will help us learn the lessons of this experience.
In ending I must emphasise a key element. If the African Renaissance is to become a reality it is important for us to work to make it succeed. Those people who enjoy full services, who can flush their toilets and water their lawns, those who are lucky enough to have jobs and salaries, they must pay for services in order to replicate and sustain projects such as this. This will enable local Councils in partnership with all spheres of government to continue reconstructing and developing our communities, to expand services to those still unserved.
Thus Nelspruit which is a pioneering example of the Public Private Partnership must also become a set piece of Public Public initiative. A challenge that faces all of us is to roll up our sleeves and work tirelessly towards the sustainability of this project.
So, in conclusion, I would like to express my gratitude to you Honourable Premier Ndaweni Mahlangu for hosting us in your Province. Mpumalanga is indeed the sun rise province, where things happen first. Senhor Secretario do Estado Amado, this event, this visit, is an important opportunity to confirm the warm and friendly relations between our people and our countries. Thank you and your government for the very practical contribution you have made to our reconstruction and development. To the implementing agent, the Mayor, local Councillors, and traditional authorities, to all here gathered let us celebrate the official opening of this project in the knowledge that it will contribute to the better life we seek for all.
Viva agua!
Viva agua pura e limpa!
Long live the co-operation between South Africa and Portugal.
I thank you all!