The meeting will deal with the impact and initiatives undertaken by both departments in providing water and sanitation to citizens and "scaling down densification" during the coronavirus (Covid-19) period.

Committee chairwoman Machwene Semenya said on Saturday that following the announcement of the resumption of the business of Parliament by parliament’s presiding officers this week, the committee believed it necessary to hold a virtual meeting to get an update from both departments on progress made in ensuring access to water by the people of South Africa.

“Maintaining a level of hygiene requires access to water and we have noted commendable roll-out of water tanks to communities that were without water. Similarly, we have noted some communities that have complained about lack of water. This meeting will ensure that we get progress on the measures of intervention that are already implemented,” Semenya said in a statement.

Some of the issues to be discussed were the impact of Covid-19 on communities without access to a continuous supply of piped, potable water and initiatives undertaken by the department of water and sanitation to address this, as well as expenditure on water and sanitation and de-densification on Covid-19 initiatives and the extent to which this would impact on the set targets already in place within programmes and sub-programmes outlined in the 2020/21 annual performance plans of both departments, Semenya said.

African News Agency