Deputy Minister Sello Seitlholo
By Lerato Mpembe
Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, Sello Seitlholo, has urged for more funding and support for skills training programmes in the water sector to address the worsening state of municipal service delivery. Speaking at the five-year celebration of the Young Engineers Changemakers Programme (YECP) on Saturday, he warned that without skilled engineers, South Africa’s municipalities could face a water crisis worse than the current electricity challenges.
The YECP, a joint effort by the Water Research Commission (WRC) and the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, has trained 50 young engineers from 21 municipalities since its launch in 2020, aiming to build expertise for sustainable water and sanitation services.
A Push for Skills to Save Municipalities
Seitlholo stressed that funding skills training is vital to improve municipal performance. “We must continue to make every effort to fund, support and incentivise such programmes to ensure that we harness the skills we need to improve the state of our municipalities,” he said. The YECP, which empowers young engineers to test innovative water and sanitation solutions in real-world settings, was hailed as a step forward. However, the Deputy Minister called for more initiatives like it to tackle the scale of the problem.
The programme’s goal is to equip municipalities with the capacity to create sustainable and liveable communities. Seitlholo congratulated the 50 engineers trained so far, noting their role in reversing the decline of engineering skills. “We cannot fix South Africa without fixing municipalities. For us to fix municipalities, requisite skills and capacity should be taken into consideration and should be prioritised,” he said.
Municipal Water Services in Decline
The Deputy Minister pointed to recent reports—the Green Drop, Blue Drop, and No Drop assessments—as evidence of a deepening crisis. These assessments, conducted by the Department of Water and Sanitation, show that 64 out of 144 Water Services Authorities (WSAs) are in a “critical” state regarding their water supply and wastewater systems. “This is a bleak sign that municipalities, constituting a majority of WSAs, are in crisis,” Seitlholo said.
The Green Drop report evaluates wastewater treatment, the Blue Drop focuses on drinking water quality, and the No Drop measures water loss management. The results highlight a sharp drop in service standards, driven largely by a lack of engineering skills. Seitlholo warned: “If the state of governance in municipalities does not improve and we do not capacitate municipalities with skilled engineers and planners, we will face a crippling water crisis. And unlike with our electricity crisis, water is a resource that cannot be replaced.”
Skills Shortage at the Heart of the Issue
Seitlholo identified the shortage of engineering skills as a major reason for failing infrastructure. “A cause of failing infrastructure was a lack of capacity and skills in municipalities, particularly engineering skills,” he said. The YECP has made progress by training young engineers, but the Deputy Minister stressed that more investment is needed to meet the demand. “The YEPC was a positive initiative that will help turn things around as municipalities are in dire need of capacity and skills,” he added.
The lack of skilled professionals has left municipalities struggling to maintain or upgrade water and sanitation systems, leading to breakdowns, water losses, and risks to public health. With urban populations growing and climate change adding pressure, the need for engineers to design and manage resilient infrastructure has never been greater.
Collaboration and Commitment
Seitlholo praised the WRC and the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology for their work on the YECP. “It is for this reason that we should acknowledge the joint efforts by the WRC and Department of Science, Innovation and Technology to empower the engineers,” he said. He also assured that the Department of Water and Sanitation, alongside other sector partners, will keep supporting local government through targeted programmes to improve water services.
Still, he emphasised that funding remains the key. Without it, efforts to build skills and capacity will fall short. “We must continue to make every effort to fund, support and incentivise such programmes,” he reiterated, calling for a united push from government, businesses, and communities.
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