Yesterday, the Department of Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) released figures based on the country-wide sanitation hearings by the Human Rights Commission. An estimated R50 billion is needed to address the sanitation backlog faced by 2.4 million households.

Meanwhile, Minister Sexwale is ducking behind task teams and commissions and not actively doing anything to address the sanitation backlogs.

On two occasions, he disappointed the Human Settlements Portfolio Committee by failing to present the National Sanitation Report, which was due in January of this year.

The attempts at diagnosis abound. We have the Human Rights Commission conducting sanitation hearings across the country, Minister Sexwale commissioned Winnie Madikizela-Mandela to head the National Sanitation Task team and the DPME is reviewing the quality of sanitation services in the country.

It is time for the Minister to take a bold step and tell us what he is going to do to address the sanitation problem in this country. We have had enough reports, diagnoses and commissions. We now need solutions.

Stevens Mokgalapa, Shadow Deputy Minister of Human Settlements