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dam-l Kasrils questions water subsidies



Kasrils questions
water subsidies
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 10.15am.


MINISTER of Water Affairs Ronnie Kasrils on Thursday said government should
consider doing away with water subsidies to free up money for job creation
projects for the unemployed.
In a speech to the North West province Jobs Summit in Mafikeng, Kasrils
says: "What we are saying is that water is a scarce and precious resource
and that people who wish to use it for luxury purposes must pay a luxury
price, just as they would for any other luxury they enjoy."
Kasrils suggests that subsidies lead to waste and that they subsidise the
rich rather than the poor at whom they are aimed. "I have been very puzzled
by this phenomenon since I became Minister," Kasrils said.
the minister suggests transferring the present water subsidy to jobs
creation, saying that people do not use water efficiently as a result of the
current subsidies. He cited initiatives in Umgeni in KwaZulu-Natal and
Hermanus in the Western Cape where water is charged according to a series of
levels according to people's needs. He said it is not a system that can be
implemented overnight.
While voicing respect for investments made on the basis of the current price
for water, Kasrils says "we can begin to talk about 'investments' rather
than 'subsidies'." He said any policy which would accelerate job creation
was an investment in the country's people and the economy.
Kasrils' speech comes 11 months after the national Job Summit of October 30
last year to unite business, labour, community representatives and
government in a quest to find ways in which jobs can be created. He noted
the government's progress in fulfilling commitments made at the Summit for
the Cabinet inter-ministerial committee on the Job Summit and the Job Summit
Supervisory Structure, made up of representatives of government, business,
labour and the community.

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Bryan Ashe


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