Government calls in armed forces to help with the Vaal River water crisis

The government has called in the armed forces to help deal with the water crisis in the Vaal River system, says finance minister Tito Mboweni.

Raw sewage continues to gush into the Vaal River at various points from Vereeniging to the Vaal Barrage, despite an undertaking given in mid-July by the national and provincial governments. About 150-million litres of sewage spills into the Vaal via its Rietspruit tributary every day, says environmental group Save.

The Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS), which supplies vast areas of Gauteng and the North West with drinking water, is critically important to SA, supporting about 60% of the economy. About 45% of the country’s population lives in the area supplied by water from the IVRS via purification and distribution utility Rand Water.

More than a million people live in the most affected Vaal district municipality, Sedibeng, which includes Emfuleni, according to Stats SA’s 2011 census. Though updated official statistics are not available, only about 53% of the Sedibeng population has access to piped water, while the rest use groundwater, run-off and other sources, including untreated water directly from tributaries and the Vaal River.

The Human Rights Commission recently held an inquiry into the pollution of the river after a site inspection revealed a prima facie violation of the rights of access to clean water, a clean environment and human dignity.

The hearings are expected to continue in November. The Emfuleni municipality has asked for an urgent financial intervention to, among other things, repair the pump stations that transport sewage to the wastewater treatment plants.  

“Our immediate focus is to mobilise short-term financing by reprioritising funds and increasing capacity. I have asked the president and the minister of defence for the military to assist with engineering and other expertise to resolve the crisis in the Vaal River system. I am happy to report that approval has been granted. The generals in charge have already started working on solutions,” Mboweni said.

He said water was critical and current water delivery models were not working “in many cases and we need to consider new ideas and models”.

He also referred to the Giyani Water Project, which he said was “plagued by malfeasance” and was a “cesspool of corruption”. Mboweni said President Cyril Ramaphosa was expected to visit Giyani soon.

He said the irregularities ranged from a “complete disregard for supply chain rules to poor contract management, resulting in irregular expenditure”.

He said it was clear that a new delivery and financing model was required to provide water services to communities and that a key element of the new approach would be a stronger focus on project management and contract governance to ensure that projects, such as the Giyani Water Project, were fit for purpose and maximised value for money in the water sector.

“I have asked the director-general of the Treasury to work with the department of water & sanitation to ensure that appropriate action is taken against all guilty officials implicated in the auditor-general’s report. The president has informed me that he will go to Giyani to see exactly what has happened and what needs to be done,” Mboweni said.

He said the government would establish an execution unit made up of engineers, quantity surveyors, architects and other professionals to ensure the challenges in the Vaal River system and the Giyani Water Project were resolved.  Mboweni said the  unit would also advise the government on new delivery and financing models to provide basic services to communities.