Close to 17,000 water tanks and over 1 200 water tankers have been delivered around the country to communities in need during the Covid-19 pandemic.

This is according to what the Water and Sanitation Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu said on Wednesday.

This forms part of the department’s interventions to enhance water supply and sanitation in the areas that require it the most during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Sisulu said R306m has been put into the operation so far and the department is in talks with the National Treasury for a further R831m to continue the intervention.

A Water Command Centre was established at Rand Water to review daily the progress made, including how many tanks and tankers have been delivered and where they have been installed or, in the case of tankers, where they operate.

Sisulu said there had been a problem with installation of some of the tanks when they were first rolled out due to lockdown restriction. Only 9 000 have been installed so far.

The tanks needed to be mounted and the materials, such as bricks, cement and taps, were not available because of the lockdown regulations that prohibited the sale of goods not deemed by the government as essential. 

These restrictions will be lifted and the minister has called on municipalities, which are responsible for installing the tanks, to act urgently.

Strong warning against theft

“If you’re found stealing a tank, we will ask for maximum sentence from the court for you because you’re taking away people’s lives.”