Minister Molewa’s Budget Speech 2013 for DWA: Infrastructure, interim water supply, internal controls and skills development, NWRS2, roll-out of CMAs

Budget Vote speech delivered by Minister Edna Molewa of the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs (DWA) on May 21, 2013, outlining the department's focus on equity, redistribution, infrastructure development, and water security in South Africa.

• The DWA is launching an Interim Water Supply Programme in July 2013 to address water backlogs in rural areas, specifically targeting 23 District Municipalities prioritised by Cabinet. The programme is funded via the Municipal Water Infrastructure Grant (MWIG) with a total budget of R4.334 billion over the MTEF period.
• South Africa's access to clean and safe drinking water increased from 59% in 1994 to a national average of 95.2% by 2013. However, Census 2011 data indicates that only 86% of households have functional water supplies, with 9 to 10% of services being dysfunctional and 24% facing serious challenges.
• The department is implementing a massive infrastructure investment plan, projecting a need for R670 billion over ten years (R67 billion per year), though only 45% (R30 billion per year) is currently available. Budget allocations for infrastructure are set at R10.2 billion for 2013/14, R12.4 billion for 2014/15, and R15.5 billion for 2015/16.
• Minister Molewa asserts that South Africa will not run out of water in the next 100 years. To support this, the Water Research Commission (WRC) is conducting the Water Resources 2012 (WR2012) study, expected to be completed in 2016, to provide a national assessment of all surface and groundwater.
• The DWA is restructuring its governance and operational entities, reducing the number of Catchment Management Agencies (CMAs) from 19 to 9 and the number of Water Boards from 12 to 9 to address non-viability.
• The 'Blue Scorpions' enforcement unit has stopped approximately 50 million cubic meters of water theft per annum nationwide, with 26 million cubic meters recovered in the upper Vaal area alone.
• The department is addressing acid mine drainage (AMD) in the Witwatersrand area. The western basin's uncontrolled decant was stopped in August 2012, and a new water treatment plant in the Central Basin is scheduled to start pumping water by November 2013.

APA

Molewa, E. (2013). Minister Molewa’s Budget Speech 2013 for DWA: Infrastructure, interim water supply, internal controls and skills development, NWRS2, roll-out of CMAs. Centre for Environmental Rights. https://cer.org.za/news/minister-molewas-budget-speech-2013-for-dwa-interim-water-supply-programme-nwrs2-roll-out-of-cmas-sips

Chicago

Molewa, Edna. Minister Molewa’s Budget Speech 2013 for DWA: Infrastructure, interim water supply, internal controls and skills development, NWRS2, roll-out of CMAs. Centre for Environmental Rights, 2013. https://cer.org.za/news/minister-molewas-budget-speech-2013-for-dwa-interim-water-supply-programme-nwrs2-roll-out-of-cmas-sips.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Molewa |first1=Edna |title=Minister Molewa’s Budget Speech 2013 for DWA: Infrastructure, interim water supply, internal controls and skills development, NWRS2, roll-out of CMAs |publisher=Centre for Environmental Rights |date=21 May 2013 |url=https://cer.org.za/news/minister-molewas-budget-speech-2013-for-dwa-interim-water-supply-programme-nwrs2-roll-out-of-cmas-sips |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{molewa2013minister, author = {Molewa, Edna}, title = {{Minister Molewa’s Budget Speech 2013 for DWA: Infrastructure, interim water supply, internal controls and skills development, NWRS2, roll-out of CMAs}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2013}, month = may, url = {https://cer.org.za/news/minister-molewas-budget-speech-2013-for-dwa-interim-water-supply-programme-nwrs2-roll-out-of-cmas-sips}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }