BY THEMBA ZWANE
EZULWINI – The Eswatini Water Services Corporation (EWSC) is targeting universal access to reliable and convenient water services for all emaSwati by 2030, Managing Director Jabulile Mashwama has said.
Mashwama said the corporation was committed to playing a critical role in achieving the country’s goal of universal water access, while ensuring that water services were brought closer to communities in a convenient and accessible manner.
She was speaking during the official launch of EWSC’s new ‘Konkhe ngaWater’ campaign, which seeks to promote smart water usage and smart living.
Mashwama said the campaign was designed to bring together the different aspects of EWSC’s work so that they had greater meaning for customers, noting that the corporation’s primary purpose was to serve both its customers and the nation.
She said expanding water infrastructure remained one of the country’s biggest goals, adding that EWSC wanted to ensure that emaSwati had access to reliable and convenient water services.
“The nation’s goal is to bring it to emaSwati in a very convenient and accessible way,” Mashwama said.
The EWSC MD said the value of having reliable water services could best be understood by considering the costs households incurred when they did not have water readily available.
She recalled a visit to the Shiselweni Region, where new customers who were being connected to the EWSC network shared their experiences of obtaining water before receiving household connections.
According to Mashwama, the customers explained that the money and time they previously spent securing water was significantly more than what they were now paying for water supplied through EWSC services brought closer to their homes.
She said this demonstrated the need to quantify the cost of not having access to water.
“Until you actually realise and quantify the cost of not having water, you don’t realise how much you’re spending on water,” she said.
Mashwama stressed that while water was a basic necessity, access to it should also be convenient, with EWSC continuing to expand infrastructure and provide platforms that bring services closer to customers.
She also highlighted prepaid water as another component of the corporation’s customer-focused approach.
According to Mashwama, some customers had expressed a desire for greater control over their water consumption and disposable income. The prepaid system, she said, allows customers to consume water based on what they have already budgeted for.
“We want to say consume what you’ve already quantified through the prepaid method and manage your consumption that way,” she said.
Mashwama said the ‘Konkhe ngaWater’ campaign brought these initiatives together as part of EWSC’s vision of becoming a modern, customer-centric utility that understands the fundamental value of water to national development.
She said the campaign was also intended to raise awareness about the need for society, together with EWSC, to ensure that development remained sustainable and responsive to the needs of emaSwati.
The campaign further carries a message of responsible water use, with Mashwama calling on the nation to recognise water as a valuable natural resource that must be protected.
She said greater appreciation of water would encourage people to use it wisely and safeguard it for both current and future generations.
Mashwama said the campaign’s message, “Lela inza bayitsonga” – development is arriving – reflected EWSC’s intention to contribute to development by ensuring that communities had access to the water services they needed.
She urged Emaswati to play their part in protecting the country’s water resources, saying sustainable development required collective responsibility.
The ‘Konkhe ngaWater’ campaign therefore seeks to link smart water usage and smart living with improved access, customer convenience, prepaid services and infrastructure expansion as EWSC works towards the 2030 universal-access target.
#EWSC #Water #KonkhengaWater #UniversalWaterAccess #NaturalResource #SmartUsage #SmartLiving
