Some informal settlements and overcrowded areas to receive water and sanitation
Just over 2 000 communities have been identified across the country to receive water and sanitation amid Covid-19 outbreak.
Minister of human settlements, water, and sanitation Lindiwe Sisulu announced a number of measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 in informal settlements.
Sisulu said that a day after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a state of national disaster, she directed her team to identify communities most at risk and drew up a plan to provide water and sanitation to them.
“I did so because of the realisation that time was of the essence and we do not want to wait until the virus reached overcrowded and informal settlements. It was important that we prepared – to ensure that we did not find ourselves overwhelmed, thereby allowing the virus to continue unabated,” said Sisulu.
High-risk areas requiring immediate intervention from the ministry of human settlements, water and sanitation and the department of cooperative governance and traditional affairs include:
- Public areas with limited access to water and sanitation
- Overcrowded settlements
- Informal settlements
- Rural settlements and water-scarce towns
Sisulu said that so far, just over 2 000 communities have been identified across the country.
Interventions will include:
- Ensuring water supply to communities not yet served by a formal water service. This will be done in the form of communal water storage with water collection points
- Providing hand-washing facilities in public places including taxi ranks and community halls. This will be reviewed in light of lockdown
- Health and hygiene campaigns
- Interim containerised sanitation systems in highly dense areas.
In the Eastern Cape, 47 water tankers have already been procured, servicing priority communities identified to experience water shortages. Over 1 000 water tankers have been procured and are currently being delivered to affected communities.
Sisulu said that a number of measures have been put in place to ensure interventions are implemented. Some of these include: an operation centre being set up at Rand Water to monitor the distribution of services and the establishment of communal centres amongst others.
“The department has identified 29 areas of priority for de-densification in an effort to combat the spread of the virus. These areas are mainly found in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape and Eastern Cape.”
“If the virus were to reach densely populated areas, it would find fertile ground to spread. We need to urgently move some of our people for the de-densification to be realised.”
She said that land parcels to relocate and decant dense communities have been secured.
The department has also received commitments from the private sector including Business Unity South Africa (Busa) who will join efforts to identify essential service areas targeting taxi ranks as well as provide health and hygiene promotions.
“We appeal to our people to recognise that the threat posed by Coronavirus in our informal settlements is real. It is therefore in their best interests to avoid the risk by cooperating with government to relocate them to healthier and safer homes.”
“Let us help each other to save the nation.”
