Transformation will be prioritised in the department’s construction management unit, minister Nomvula Mokonyane told Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation.

During her address in which she gave the committee an overview of the unit, Mokonyane said that while the unit has previously undertaken various infrastructure projects to ensure communities have access to clean water supply, it was still “plagued with slow transformation”.

The unit was established to construct, rehabilitate, refurbish and maintain new and existing national water resources infrastructure.

Mokonyane explained that the intention was to meet industrial, agricultural and social (domestic) bulk water supply requirements, and to facilitate economic growth and development. This included the rehabilitation and upgrading of existing water supply infrastructure to comply with international dam safety standards.

Mokonyane said transformation within the department should be taken seriously by everyone.

“The department’s drive is to ensure that there is a difference between what used to be and what is expected today,” she said. “The intention to ensure transformation in the department should be in line with our guiding document, the National Development Plan, which envisions a water sector that reflects all the demographics of the country.”

Mokonyane also emphasised that transformation should not just mean colour and gender specifics, but should also reflect in procurement processes.

“Everything we do should be in accordance with the Public Finance Management Act to ensure that we do things by the book,” she said. “A lot must also be done to ensure that the previously disadvantaged communities and companies also benefit in the water sector, but we must guarantee compliance.”

A joint transformation committee was established by the department in 2015 to ensure that transformation is an inclusive project within the department, with a specific focus on creating new opportunities for the previously disadvantaged, youth, women and people with disabilities.