The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has notched up the rollout of water tanks to needy communities to 2 211 and going all out to improve their plight as the numbers of novel coronavirus increase daily.

As part of the frontline departments that seek to ease the impact of the coronavirus, DWS is geared to continue efforts to a more effective contribution to mount the fight against the spread of the virus.

President Cyril Ramaphosa urged government departments to implement extraordinary measures to ensure that, amongst other interventions, impoverished communities have access to clean water supply to enable them to wash hands to ward- off the spread of the virus.

To this end, the Department has provided water tanks across Gauteng, benefitting communities in densely-populated areas which include the Cities of Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni, and the District Municipalities of Sedibeng and West Rand.

DWS’s Gauteng Provincial Head, Sibusiso Mthembu, said the Department was progressively making an impact to water challenges in overcrowded environments as communities are now receiving water to practice hygiene to wash hands to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.

Mthembu said the efforts of the Department was now reaching every corner of Gauteng where water is needed, adding that that the communities are seeing the concrete intervention the Department was making to break the strength of the invisible enemy that is the deadly coronavirus. 

He said: “Communities are appreciative of the government‘s response to the outbreak and that intensive measures are being put in place in favour of those who would have otherwise been affected significantly by the virus.”

He added that the Department was expediting its efforts working in concert with other stakeholders to ensure that the communities’ lives were brought to normalcy as far as it was possible.

Mthembu thanked communities for looking after the water tanks where this infrastructure has been installed, saying it was vital to ensure it did not fall prey to wanton acts of vandalism.

“We appeal to communities to carry on looking after these water tanks so that they practice proper hygiene. Washing hands with water and soap is one of the sure ways to beat the spread of the virus. The water tanks must continue to serve the needs of the communities long after the virus is gone,” said Mthembu.

Issued by: Department of Water and Sanitation