Stakeholders who attended a consultative meeting between the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and raw water users have welcomed the educational awareness and clarity provided during the robust meeting targeting raw water users under the OR Tambo District Municipality.
The consultative meeting was held at the Garden Court in Mthatha on Wednesday, July 12.
The OR Tambo District Municipality as a water services provider, farmers, and the Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform were some of the stakeholders that attended the meeting.
“The purpose of the meeting was to consult water users about the tariffs for raw water use for the 2024/2025 financial year. The meeting was held to also stress the importance of having a water use licence for raw water users,” said Mzimvubu to Tsitsikama Catchment Management Agency head, Thabisa Fiko, who facilitated the meeting.
Catchment Management Agencies (CMAs) are agencies of DWS.
Fiko further told the meeting that the tariffs would only apply to water users who use raw water from dams, and not those who get water from boreholes and rivers, but stressed that all raw water users must have a licence regardless of the source of raw water they use. A water use licence is a requirement for anyone who uses 12 cubic meters of raw water a month.
National Federated Chamber of Commerce (NAFCOC) Eastern Cape chairperson, Mlungisi Ndobeni, who is also a farmer and raw water user, welcomed the awareness farmers received from the consultative meeting.
“The meeting opened our minds to things we were not aware of as raw water users, and I believe that the information we received will go a long way towards doing away with water pollution,” he said.
Ndobeni further revealed that their farming cooperative, Xhamla Mzantsi, recently got a water use licence but lamented the long period it took to get the licence, which was over a decade.
Fiko said that they have significantly improved their turnaround time when one applies for a water use licence to 90 days.
A similar consultative meeting was held with stakeholders under Alfred Nzo District Municipality on Friday, July 14.
