Municipalities owed Rand Water a combined R8bn by the third quarter of 2024/25, up from about R1.5bn in 2015, placing a serious strain on the bulk water supplier’s ability to function, CEO Sipho Mosai said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a webinar facilitated by PSG and hosted by journalist Alishia Seckam on Tuesday, Mosai said the utility was presently still able to “raise capital markets [but] it’s a matter of serious concern for us in the long term”.
Rand Water recently came under fire after residents were left without water for days as the bulk water supplier undertook maintenance of its infrastructure. Rand Water supplies Gauteng’s three metropolitan municipalities, local municipalities, mines and other industries, as well as parts of Mpumalanga, the North West and Free State with an average of 3.653-million litres of potable water daily.
Mosai said there was no bulk water crisis in the country, in which agriculture accounts for about 60% of water consumption, most of it for irrigating crops.
“Ours is to operate, maintain, refurbish our bulk infrastructure … This is something that should be commended — [we are] going to [maintain] our infrastructure to ensure its resilience.”
When asked about the recent water supply disruptions, Mosai said Rand Water’s maintenance schedules were completed on time.
“We do this on a yearly basis. It’s not correct to say it was prolonged. The challenge people are facing is system recovery. The system takes time to recover depending on where you are,” he said. “The frustration is that people want water all the time, they want the system to recovery quickly.”
Mosai said Rand Water supplied “some of the best drinking water in the world”, saying its supply was on par with globally recognised standards.
Mosai admitted there were issues regarding ageing infrastructure and high levels on nonpayment for water in municipalities.
“These challenges need to be attended to. We are partnering with them, we want to be part of the solution, we have taken it upon ourselves to be solution driven, through special purpose vehicles [SPVs],” he said.
“Part of what we want to achieve through these SPVs is to invest in infrastructure to eliminate nonrevenue water, so water goes to where it needs to go and revenue comes through.”
Mosai said all water in the country belonged to the government. “It’s a national asset, the department of water & sanitation has a responsibility to protect this resource and build infrastructure.”
The department is at the forefront of several water infrastructure projects costing the fiscus billions of rand.
They include phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (R53bn), the Clanwilliam Dam Project (R7bn), the Tzaneen Dam Project (R760m), the Mzimvubu Water Project (R8.1bn), and phase 2 of the Mokolo and Crocodile River (West) Water Augmentation Project (R12.4bn).
In a parliamentary debate on her budget vote recently, water & sanitation minister Pemmy Majodina said the problem of water debt, “which is about R24bn”, was detrimental to water security in the country.
According to the department’s Blue Drop and Green Drop reports, 105 of the 144 water services authorities in SA are in crisis, being unable to provide basic service delivery and the management of critical infrastructure such as water treatment plants and wastewater treatment plants.
Business Day reported in May that the National Treasury is working with SA’s eight metros on a R54bn performance-based incentive that will help them with cash to fix their water, electricity and waste management services, on condition they ring-fence revenue from these services in professionally run utilities that can ensure service delivery.
“Water and local electricity outages create chaos and directly affect economic output,” Business Leadership SA CEO Busi Mavuso said in her weekly newsletter on Monday.
“Recent estimates suggest that municipal service failures cost the SA economy billions annually, with small businesses particularly vulnerable to extended power and water cuts that can force temporary closures and drive away customers.”
Rand Water spokesperson Makenosi Maroo couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on the newsletter.
Update: July 29 2025
This story has been recast with comments by Rand Water CEO Sipho Mosai.
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