President Cyril Ramaphosa has enacted legislation to create a new state-owned company focused on water infrastructure.
These reforms are driven by Operation Vulindlela, a joint initiative of the Presidency and National Treasury to support economic recovery through structural reforms. “Over the past few years, there has been an emerging recognition of the need for a stronger public sector in the key area of infrastructure development, effective maintenance, operation and management of existing infrastructure, and to support social and economic development,” said the Presidency.
The new state-owned company comes as South Africa faces extreme water supply issues, with taps regularly running dry in Johannesburg, the nation’s richest city. On Monday , the president assigned shareholder responsibility for each state-owned enterprise previously under the stewardship of the now-defunct Department of Public Enterprises to the respective line-function Ministries.