12 ASSOCIATIONS
Water Inspectors gained an average of 4.5 for knowledge and 4.0 for service .
Does your municipality keep / maintain a register of plumbers ? 52 % stated no . 20 % stated did not know if there was a register . 28 % stated yes . ( of this only 35 % are registered with 65 % stating they are not registered )
Asked whether the municipality holds plumbers accountable : 61 % stated they do not know . 24 % stated no . 15 % stated yes . This indicates that 85 % do not hold plumbers accountable . ( do not know means they have not been held accountable ).
A further desktop survey was conducted , ( we produce only the national results here ):
• Out of 256 municipalities identified , 212 were local municipalities and 44 were district municipalities .
• Of these 48.8 % had contact details .
• 16 % had contact details for Building Inspectors .
• 31.25 % had water by-laws online .
• By-laws ranged from 1977 to 2020 with Western Cape having the most online by-laws and Northern Cape , the least .
• On average the by-laws are 10.25 years old .
“ By laws should be available publicly and easily accessible to both public and professionals / trades .”
The report broke down each province with varying results and of |
interest was the average age of each province ’ s by-law , |
Eastern Cape |
7 years |
Northern Cape |
13.4 years |
Western Cape |
12.5 years |
Free State |
8 years |
Limpopo |
15 years |
Kwa Zulu Natal |
9.8 years |
Mpumalanga |
6 years |
North West |
3.5 years |
Gauteng |
12 years |
Conclusion : The Water Services Act No 108 of 1997 clearly states the responsibility of municipalities to water , water by-laws and qualified plumbers . Model by-laws were provided when the Act was promulgated so there is no reason why any municipality does not have by-laws .
This again goes to lack of skills , corruption , and ignorance . Considering that water is a basic human need , the general attitude to information sharing ( accessibility to by-laws ) is unacceptable as well as the average age of by-laws ( 10 years ) indicates further non-acceptance of the changes that have taken place over the years with regard to standards and materials , and it is small wonder then that approximately 125 000 unqualified people are allowed to run amok in this country doing plumbing work which must only add to the severe water losses SA experiences .
The Dept of Water & Sanitation ’ s Master Plan indicates that potable water , which is becoming more costly because of poor maintenance and unskilled people is a problem . Sadly , the department does not have the money to implement the plan . Research and surveys such as IOPSA has done further indicates the needs for quantitative and qualitative research proving direction for urgent action and something that the SA Local Government Association ( SALGA ) and Water Research Commission ( WRC ) must be looking at now ! PA
www . plumbingafrica . co . za @ plumbingonline @ plumbingonline @ PlumbingAfricaOnline June 2021 Volume 27 I Number 4