Pretoria - The Department of Water and Sanitation is expected to carry out raids in certain areas of the country to stop people from all sectors abstracting water illegally from rivers and other water resources.
Industries that are polluting the country’s rivers will also be visited.
The raids, which will start on Monday, will form part of Enforcement Month which started at the beginning of November 2014 and is used to remind all South Africans about the importance of using water legally and sparingly.
In terms of the National Water Act of 1998, all water users in South Africa, whether for commercial or domestic use, must be registered through their municipalities and industries and must be issued with water use licenses.
“The National Water Act forms part of the pillars of South Africa’s laws as it seeks to enforce good management of water and its conservation.
“Enforcement Month marks an important period in the government calendar because of the scarcity of water in South Africa. We are among the 30 driest countries in the world, the country also runs the risk of becoming a desert in 20 years if we don’t manage and use our water sparingly,” said Anil Singh, Deputy Director General for Water Sector Regulation in the department.
He said it was unacceptable that some individuals and industries used the scarce resource for personal benefit without applying for water use licenses.
An increase in unlawful water use activities, with an impact on the environment as well as negative socio-economic factors, called for a need to bring about public awareness regarding compliance. – SAnews.gov.za
