Nomvula Mokonyane, minister of Water and Sanitation, has started the ball rolling for the establishment of a new single provincial water board in KwaZulu-Natal.

Minister Mokonyane says that the move to amalgamate the two water boards is not isolated from other initiatives that government is engaged in to ensure the sustainability of water supply to the province.

“The diagnostic report of the National Development Plan (NDP) identified a number of challenges in the current institutional arrangements within the state and for the department to deliver on the NDP.

“The structural changes we are introducing will ensure that we have a coherent, responsive and forward looking entity whose purpose will be to ensure that we realise our targets as government to provide clean water, sustainably so, to our people,” Mokonyane explains.

She met with Umngeni and Umhlathuze Water Boards, and briefed them on her intention to spearhead the process.

The Minister says it is her intention to have the new single entity operational in the course of 2016/17 financial year and that the department will be proceeding with all the required processes to disestablish the current boards.

The department will also conduct all the required due-diligence processes and consultations, particular with labour to ensure the transition was smooth and issue free as possible.

“We have engaged with both water boards and the response has been favourable. We have also briefed the provincial government and the next step is to engage with labour.

“It is my intention to lead these engagements in order to assure employees of both water boards on job security and future opportunities presented by this process,” says Mokonyane.

In line with the discussions held and the processes underway, the Minister will on a regular basis update stakeholders and the public on the process and its execution to ensure transparency and accountability.