The department of water & sanitation has distanced itself from the water infrastructure issues plaguing the Gauteng economic hub, especially troubled Johannesburg.
The department has made it clear that it cannot be held responsible for resolving issues that are constitutionally the responsibility of municipalities.
Director-general Sean Phillips said the department was unable to intervene, emphasising that the responsibility for formulating a plan to tackle the escalating problem of water leaks rested with municipalities.
“It is constitutionally the responsibility of the municipalities to maintain their water, but the department has helped with their turnaround strategy,” he said on Tuesday, during the department’s media briefing on its work since July.
“We can’t keep spending billions to build dams [in the integrated Vaal river system, which supplies the province]. To be sustainable, we need to reduce our water use,” he said.
Prof Mike Muller at the Wits School of Governance agreed. “You cannot hold the minister responsible for what municipalities do. Constitutionally, you cannot do that. The Gauteng water crisis was very predictable, we expected this.”
SA’s water infrastructure has notably deteriorated over time, underscored by acute water shortages affecting municipalities in Gauteng, Polokwane and eThekwini in KwaZulu-Natal.
The situation has led to Gauteng property owners sounding the alarm over security of supply and distribution efficacy in the province, with property investment company Attacq warning in its annual report of the risk to its operations
Other property owners in Gauteng have also had to put in place contingency plans to prepare for frequent water outages.
Redefine announced plans in July to spend more than R200m on new water tanks to ensure a reliable supply for up to five days at its properties in Gauteng.
The extended water crisis has been attributed to infrastructure deficiencies and increasing demand, as well as weak billing and revenue collection, insufficient prioritisation of budgets for maintenance by municipal councils and a lack of qualified personnel. The situation has been compounded by the R22bn debt owed by municipalities to water boards.
The department has previously identified nonpayment by municipalities as a risk to the sustainability of six out of the country’s seven water boards, stating that the outstanding debt hinders their ability to sustain water infrastructure, given that they do not receive direct funding from the state.
Water boards manage dams, bulk water supply, and select retail and wastewater infrastructure, while supporting municipalities with technical expertise. Their dam operations role underscores their critical function in national water resource management.
The department has implemented incentive schemes to encourage timely payment, which include waiving interest on outstanding debts to try to avert a crisis.
“Two water boards, namely Vaal Central and Magalies, were experiencing cash flow problems due to nonpayment by municipalities and were facing bankruptcy,” minister of water & sanitation Pemmy Majodina said in a media briefing on Tuesday.
“When a municipality enters a payment plan with a water board we do write off the interest, but if they don’t then we continue to add interest, which they must pay,” Majodina said.
“Engagements were held with Limpopo, Free State, Northern Cape, North West and Eastern Cape provinces. Engagements with the remaining provinces will continue. The engagements have been successful in that commitments to pay were obtained from most non-paying municipalities and payment levels have improved.
“It is important to state that there is no drought in Gauteng. However, the province is experiencing water security challenges, including credit management issues, water losses, ageing infrastructure, illegal connections, illegal mining and servitude encroachment,” Majodina said.
“This is a self-inflicted pain by the municipalities of Gauteng, because we warned the municipalities of Gauteng as early as June to take care of their water infrastructure as they are losing lots of water.
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