During the course of several investigations the SAHRC’s KZN Provincial Office has found that a number of the municipalities in the Province fail or neglect on their constitutionally imposed duty to cooperate with the Commission.  Whilst the SAHRC has resorted to instituting both litigation and subpoena hearings against several municipalities, mindful of the constitutional duty of provincial governments, it has reached out to the Office of the Honourable Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs in KZN Province (CoGTA – KZN), Mr Sipho Hlomuka, in an attempt to bring some form of relief to the affected and vulnerable communities.

During a meeting held on Thursday, 04 February 2021, CoGTA – KZN revealed and presented that it has been working on the development of a Water Master Plan for the Province in order to assess the challenges in the provision of water to all affected communities. The process has included the establishment of various specialised task teams to work on both short and long term time bound measures and projects to address the maintenance and infrastructure challenges as well as to provide for the growing capacity demands on the various municipalities.

Given that CoGTA – KZN is specifically tasked to ensure that municipalities perform their basic responsibilities and functions the SAHRC is of the view that it would be beneficial to work closely with CoGTA – KZN in order to oversee the provision of access to water. MEC Hlomuka and his team have welcomed the initiative of forging closer working relations with the SAHRC to ensure that both CoGTA – KZN and the SAHRC are able to execute their mandate and functions effectively and efficiently.

Access to adequate water and sanitation are essential to the realisation of all human rights.  The SAHRC, an independent national human rights institution, will going forward, work closely with COGTA – KZN and all other key stakeholders to ensure that all communities are able to access a basic supply of clean water and further that they have access to proper sanitation.

Ends

Prepared by the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Office of the South African Human Rights Commission

For queries, contact the SAHRC’s KZN Provincial Manager, Adv. Lloyd Lotz on 031 – 304 7323 / 0728407910 or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or the Senior Legal Officer Ms Pavershree Padayachee at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.