FOCUS ON WATER BY FIONA WAKELIN
Minister of Water and Sanitation
Hon. Mchunu Bringing a renewed focus on the improvement of municipal water infrastructure
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n August President Ramaphosa announced a Cabinet reshuffle as well as changes to the structure of the Executive Committee. “Water and Sanitation should be a separate Ministry [from Human Settlements], which will enable a dedicated focus on ensuring that all South Africans have access to a secure and sustainable supply of this precious resource, ” – President Ramaphosa. Our new Minister of Water and Sanitation is Honourable Senzo Mchunu who previously served as the Minister of Public Service and Administration. He also served as Premier of KwaZulu-Natal from 22 August 2013 until 23 May 2016 and is a former provincial chairperson of the ANC in KZN. Born at eNhlwathi, Hlabisa in northern KZN Minister Mchunu was educated at the University of Zululand and the University of South Africa, qualifying with a BA in Education and International Relations. From 1985 he worked as a high school teacher, resigning to become a full-time politician in 1991.
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Given that water is our most precious resource and with the ongoing stressors of climate change, the dedicated Water and Sanitation ministry was hailed as good news across the board: “A dedicated ministry is appreciated, and it needs to be well capacitated — capacity that can also be leveraged through effective partnerships. In addition, given water’s cross-cutting and central role in achieving our development ambitions and striving for water security, we simply must prioritise and dedicate investment in strengthening coordination mechanisms and institutions across ministries, departments and the different portfolios, at multiple levels and between levels — national, provincial and local,” - Ruth Beukman, Freshwater and Policy Lead, WWF South Africa (Daily Maverick, 9 August). And Minister Mchunu has hit the ground running. He delivered the keynote address during the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) World Water Week seminar, online from 23-27 August 2021 which engaged participants
