HEALTH AND SANITATION
21
This time, government’s confusion
about water could help plumbers
Have you noticed how confused our government is
about water? After almost every election, water has
a new partner.
By Mike Muller
Back in 1994, the national department and
its ministry were responsible for ‘Water and
Forestry’. You could understand that. Both water
and trees are natural resources that need to be
looked after. But they are also rather important
for lives and livelihoods, so there was some logic
to having their management and exploitation
under one roof.
Then in 2005, they were divorced. For a little while,
there was simply a Ministry and Department of Water
Affairs. But clearly, the powers that be were worried
that the water people might be lonely, so in 2006
they were hitched again and we got a Ministry of
Water and Environmental Affairs which loved our
water because it was part of the environment, but
didn’t really like people to use it.
That lasted until 2014 when the new minister
became the Minister of Water and Sanitation. It may
have been necessary to remind her that sanitation, a
problem child that is often forgotten, was important.
But just as we got used to that, we have another
partnership change. Welcome, the Minister of Human
Settlements, Water & Sanitation. This is getting to be
as bad as Days of our Lives.
“Perhaps I am just an
optimist, but the impossible
is sometimes possible.”
It is true that water is a complicated subject.
Sometimes it’s a natural resource with economic
value that we can exploit; at others, it is a part of
the natural environment that must be protected.
Blink and it’s only about drinking water and toilets.
And now it’s about housing and human settlements.
No wonder the people who work in the department
sometimes look a little giddy.
www.plumbingafrica.co.za
But this latest change could be good for plumbers.
For the last 30 years, I have listened to complaints
from people in the plumbing business about how
difficult it is getting to do a good, professional job. If
you want to use quality fittings, you’re told you can
get something round the corner for half the price
which will do fine, at least for the guarantee period.
You want to plan water services for a building so that
you can get to the pipes if there is a problem in 10
years’ time, but you’re told that’s an unnecessary
addition to costs – even if it is in the regulations, the
chances that anyone will inspect are small and if they
do, no need to worry, they’ll understand.
Mike Muller
Mike Muller is a
professional civil engineer
and a visiting professor
at the Wits School of
Governance. Now out of
government, he raises
issues that his former
colleagues cannot.
The advantage of putting water into what used to
be called housing and human settlements is that
the houses are still there. And the complaints about
shoddy building and poor quality materials are getting
loud enough for even tin-eared government officials
to hear. Meanwhile, environmentalists are doing
something useful for a change by demanding that
homes, buildings and their services are water and
energy efficient.
So perhaps we will finally see some action on
long-outstanding issues like proper certification for
fittings – and setting standards for the 21st century,
not the 19th. Someone like the new Minister of
Trade, Industry, Economic Development and other
important things may finally kick a few backsides
in what used to be the SABS. He might even sort
out the alphabet soup fight between the NRCS and
SABS about who does what in setting and
enforcing standards.
And perhaps building regulations will be updated to
take account of the need for water-efficient fittings
that will last as long as the buildings they go into.
Perhaps I am just an optimist, but the impossible is
sometimes possible. PA
July 2019 Volume 25 I Number 5