The government has elected to increase the bulk water allocation to Rand Water as a stopgap measure aimed at alleviating water challenges dogging SA’s economic hub of Gauteng as demand is fast outstripping supply.
Water challenges in Gauteng — which contributes nearly 40% to national GDP — have resulted in Johannesburg Water banning irrigation or watering of gardens, and cleaning driveways and patios with hosepipes.
The restrictions almost mirror those introduced in the DA-led City of Cape Town about three years ago to avert the dreaded day zero when taps run dry.
Overuse of water in the province is continuing, putting a strain on the system. This led to Rand Water informing customers of the need to restrict water supply. “This does not imply that there is a crisis of water availability but is rather a means to manage the system through reduction and therefore bringing balance to the system,” water & sanitation department spokesperson Sputnik Ratau told Business Day.
On Monday, water & sanitation minister Senzo Mchunu held an emergency meeting with representatives from the Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane metros, local and district municipalities and Rand Water to discuss the issue. Johannesburg Water gets its water supply from Rand Water.
“We note the increase in water usage and restrictions imposed by Rand Water in response to deteriorating water levels in their reservoirs. Therefore, we will increase temporarily the allocation for abstraction of bulk water to Rand Water’s system in order to meet the demand,” Mchunu said in a statement on Monday.
“This should bring relief to some metros, namely Johannesburg, Tshwane and Mogale City district municipality. However, the measure is for a period of nine months while we seek more permanent solutions to water usage and management.”
The department said bulk water supplier Rand Water now abstracts 4,400 megalitres of water from the Vaal Dam and has already exceeded this allocation by 1,600 megalitres since the beginning of the spring season on September 1.
Ratau told Business Day that 4,400 megalitres of water “are enough for Rand Water to supply Gauteng”, which has a population of about 15-million residents.
He said the increased allocation to Rand Water still needs to be calculated. “That detail is still to be worked out, it’s a science to work out the megalitres. A megalitre is a million litres. Currently, Rand Water is already abstracting over and above what their licence is allowing them due to increased demand. This is an emergency matter.”
Ratau said load-shedding has affected water supply because “when there’s load-shedding we can’t abstract, treat and pump water”.
Rand Water is crucial to the economy as it supplies the Gauteng metros of Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and the capital city Tshwane, local municipalities, mines and other industries, as well as parts of Mpumalanga, North West and the Free State with an average of 3.653-million litres of potable water daily.
Earlier in October, the department said the Vaal Dam was at 94% capacity while the country’s largest water supply system, the Integrated Vaal River System, which comprises 14 dams across four provinces, was at just under the same level.
Mchunu said while the increased allocation to Rand Water will bring some relief, affected municipalities need to come up with measures to deal with those wasting water. These include imposing penalties and dealing with water leaks in the municipal reticulation system.
“As a country we are experiencing the scarcity of water, yet we allow for up to 40% of our water to be lost to leakage. This undermines our efforts to address water challenges,” the minister said.
Wits School of Governance Prof Mike Muller, a water expert and former director-general of water affairs, said: “It is important that the minister has taken this action because we know that Rand Water was worried about taking too much water out of the Vaal River system. They have a licence and permit and don’t want to exceed the amount allowed.
“We are very lucky this year that we have unusually full dams. It makes sense for the minister to say, as an emergency measure, you [Rand Water] can temporarily take more water [out of the Vaal River] to supply [Gauteng municipalities].”
“But this can only be a short-term measure that should not continue for more than a few weeks.” Muller said the “unusual surge in demand [for water was] aggravated by the hot weather, late rains and load-shedding”.
Ratau said a “war room committee” comprising the department, Rand Water and all 11 Gauteng municipalities as well as the business sector will be set up to provide a “holistic co-ordination, provision and management of water system in the province”.
Water use has risen in recent weeks due to the heatwaves occurring during this period over the past two to three years.
As a country we are experiencing the scarcity of water, yet we allow for up to 40% of our water to be lost to leakage. This undermines our efforts to address water challenges
— Senzo Mchunu
DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga called on newly elected premier Panyaza Lesufi to urgently implement a disaster management plan to deal with the water crisis and load-shedding in the province.
“For a few weeks now, residents living in Gauteng have been subjected to low water pressure or no water at all because the reservoirs are not able to fill up sufficiently because of the ongoing load-shedding,” Msimanga said.
“The only way this crisis can be dealt with effectively is by ... establishing a task team to deal with the water and electricity crisis” and embark on a public awareness campaign in conjunction with municipalities on water and electricity conservation.
“The issues with Eskom have now had a ripple effect on the supply of water and if the current government was serious about ensuring that none of our resident’s human rights is infringed, they would have a plan in place ready to implement,” he said.
BMW SA spokesperson Khanyi Mashinini said the car manufacturer’s plant in Tshwane is not affected by the water challenges “at the moment”.
Capital City Business Chamber executive director Chrys Haitas said the water issue poses a threat to industrialists and manufacturers. If not addressed urgently, “manufactures are going to get very affected if they don’t have their own resources, such as boreholes”.
“The tourism industry will also be affected because they need water ... water is our main resource for survival. We will all be affected.”
Business Unity SA CEO Cas Coovadia described the water challenges as a “very worrying situation” affecting significant parts of business including manufacturing activity and the hospitality and health industries.
He called on political parties at local government to concentrate on service delivery “irrespective of who is in power”, instead of fighting each other.
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