MyZA

News, Directory, Events and Other Stuff

You are here: Home / News / Funding skills training programmes critical for service delivery

Funding skills training programmes critical for service delivery

Funding skills training programmes critical for service delivery

The Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, Sello Seitlholo, has emphasised the importance of funding skills training programmes in the water sector to improve service delivery at municipal level.

“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,” Seitlholo said on Saturday.

The Deputy Minister was addressing the five-year celebration of the Young Engineers Changemakers Programme (YECP) organised by Water Research Commission (WRC) in partnership with the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology.

The YECP was launched five years ago to empower a new generation of municipal engineers in efforts to contribute to sustainable service delivery.

It also provides opportunities for young South African engineers to partake in testing potential innovative water and sanitation solutions in real world sites and to gain the necessary skills required to drive municipalities of the future which are sustainable, liveable and builds socio-technical infrastructure and services.

To date, 50 young engineers from 21 municipalities around the country have been trained over the last five years.

The Deputy Minister congratulated the young engineers and reminded them that their core purpose was to make a positive contribution in arresting the decline of engineering skills in the municipalities. 

“We meet here to celebrate both the milestone of this important programme as well as to take stock of its potential and future in helping us address the challenges which threaten to cripple our democracy. 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. 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,” Seitlholo said.

He said a cause of failing infrastructure was a lack of capacity and skills in municipalities, particularly engineering skills. 

The Deputy Minister highlighted that municipal water and sanitation services are deteriorating, as it was revealed by the recent Green Drop, Blue Drop and No Drop assessment reports released by the Department of Water and Sanitation. 

Sixty four out of 144 Water Services Authorities (WSAs) scored ‘critical’ on average across their water supply systems and/or wastewater systems in the 2023 Blue Drop and 2022 Green Drop assessments. 

“This is a bleak sign that municipalities, constituting a majority of WSAs, are in crisis. 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,” he said.

The Deputy Minister said the YEPC was a positive initiative that will help turn things around as municipalities are in dire need of capacity and skills. 

He said the department and other sector role players will continue to provide targeted support to local government through various support and intervention programmes aimed at improving water services. – SAnews.gov.za

 

nosihle
Sun, 05/18/2025 – 13:12

161 views

The Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, Sello Seitlholo, has emphasised the importance of funding skills training programmes in the water sector to improve service delivery at municipal level.

“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,” Seitlholo said on Saturday.

The Deputy Minister was addressing the five-year celebration of the Young Engineers Changemakers Programme (YECP) organised by Water Research Commission (WRC) in partnership with the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology.

The YECP was launched five years ago to empower a new generation of municipal engineers in efforts to contribute to sustainable service delivery.

It also provides opportunities for young South African engineers to partake in testing potential innovative water and sanitation solutions in real world sites and to gain the necessary skills required to drive municipalities of the future which are sustainable, liveable and builds socio-technical infrastructure and services.

To date, 50 young engineers from 21 municipalities around the country have been trained over the last five years.

The Deputy Minister congratulated the young engineers and reminded them that their core purpose was to make a positive contribution in arresting the decline of engineering skills in the municipalities. 

“We meet here to celebrate both the milestone of this important programme as well as to take stock of its potential and future in helping us address the challenges which threaten to cripple our democracy. 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. 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,” Seitlholo said.

He said a cause of failing infrastructure was a lack of capacity and skills in municipalities, particularly engineering skills. 

The Deputy Minister highlighted that municipal water and sanitation services are deteriorating, as it was revealed by the recent Green Drop, Blue Drop and No Drop assessment reports released by the Department of Water and Sanitation. 

Sixty four out of 144 Water Services Authorities (WSAs) scored ‘critical’ on average across their water supply systems and/or wastewater systems in the 2023 Blue Drop and 2022 Green Drop assessments. 

“This is a bleak sign that municipalities, constituting a majority of WSAs, are in crisis. 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,” he said.

The Deputy Minister said the YEPC was a positive initiative that will help turn things around as municipalities are in dire need of capacity and skills. 

He said the department and other sector role players will continue to provide targeted support to local government through various support and intervention programmes aimed at improving water services. – SAnews.gov.za

Watch a Funding skills training programmes critical for service delivery related video:

Stunning South Africa:

https://www.slidegeeks.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1280×720/N/e/New_Service_Launch_Plan_Service_Success_Factors_Ppt_Infographic_Template_Rules_PDF_Slide_1.jpg

Have you visited MyPR?

MyPR.co.za offers free to publish press releases for your news site, blog or offline publication. Use the handy REPUBLISH facility or the Full Text RSS Feeds or just copy and paste.

Straton Electrical | Straton Solar | Straton Prepaid | Straton Plumbing | Straton IoT | Straton eBikes | BA Systems | Mbane Contracting | Reach Trust

Category: Tag: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

If you feel strongly about this article then feel free to send MyZA a ‘Letter to the Editor’ using the submission form below:

Letter to the Editor

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
If this is in response to an article please include that article title here or as the lead in for the first paragraph of your Letter below.

Separate tags with commas

Localise your letter by naming the city your words are about. Add relevant words describing your subject. Single comma separated words of no more than 5
Your Name(Required)
Your Name will be linked to the website below.
Your personal, business or social media web site
Choose NO to not set up a user account on MyZA. User Accounts will allow you to submit letters under your own Author Name

3 Latest Letters to the Editor:

  • Older Persons Grants Land Today — No Need to Queue at Dawn

    Dear Editor, Older Persons grants are paid today, 30 October, under SASSA’s revised November payment schedule — with disability grants on Monday 2 November, children’s grants on Tuesday 3 November, and grants under review on Thursday 5 November. Two things every beneficiary should know. First, grant money does not expire on payment day. It stays…

  • November Grants Pay Early – No Need to Queue at Dawn

    Dear Editor, I run SAGrant (sagrant.co.za), a free resource helping South Africans navigate SASSA grants. November grants pay earlier than usual. Older Persons grants are paid on Friday 30 October, Disability grants on 2 November, and Child Support and other grants on 3 November. Grants still under review are paid on 5 November. The money…

  • NSFAS 2027 applications close on 31 October — SASSA households, apply now

    Dear Editor, I run SAGrant (sagrant.co.za), a free resource helping South Africans navigate SASSA grants. NSFAS applications for the 2027 academic year close on Friday 31 October 2026, and no extension is expected. If your household receives a SASSA grant, your child already passes the NSFAS financial eligibility test — but they still have to…

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Fun South African Fact: There are 11 official languages, each with equal status, in South Africa