The taps are running dry in Gauteng.
It is time to move past petty politics and self-interest and tackle this crisis, which has arisen just two years before the next local election at a point when trust in premier Panyaza Lesufi's provincial government is at a low.
The latest Gauteng City Region-Observatory quality of life survey, released this week, showed that a whopping 68% of residents do not trust the current leaders in government. A further 61% don’t think leaders from different parts of the government work well together.
Most residents expressed similar views about the country as a whole — 73% of black and 84% of white respondents said the country was going in the wrong direction. And there has also been a surge in respondents who respond with “none” when asked which sphere of government has done the most to improve their lives.
This indicates distrust and dissatisfaction in local, provincial and national spheres of government — satisfaction with municipalities has dipped to record lows at just 22%. Addressing the water crisis in Gauteng would go a long way to improving the attitudes — and everyday lives — of residents.
As water & sanitation minister Pemmy Majodina told parliament this week, all Gauteng municipalities have to do is address four key areas to immediately register an improvement in the provision of water to residents. It’s doable and it’s fast, she said.
Rand Water complained to parliament’s portfolio committee on water that it was enduring a “political smear campaign”, with municipalities blaming the bulk-water provider for increasingly frequent water cuts to residents. Yet when one drills down it is the municipalities that are squarely to blame for the unfolding crisis in the country’s economic centre.
While Rand Water has its challenges, municipalities are failing at the basics in managing water supply and demand. Rand Water’s problem stems from the near decade-long delay to phase two of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, which was initiated to bolster its capacity. There is a cap on how much water Rand Water can extract from the Vaal river system, meaning demand has to be carefully managed.
The glaring problem on the municipal side is that “non-revenue” water in Gauteng stands at 49%. This means almost half of the water provided to municipalities is not paid for, due to leaks or illegal connections. This has an effect on the ability of these cities to pay Rand Water, maintain their water infrastructure, build more reservoirs and meet the demand for water from an ever-growing population.
Rand Water CEO Sipho Mosai told the committee that doing simple things could go a long way to address the crisis. “We saw it in Tshwane ... when they started walking their lines, it assisted them greatly. They were able to reduce their non-revenue water and they turned around their finances quickly. That is why in the last few months when we closed our financial year, Tshwane is the only municipality who paid their bill, all of it,” he said.
Earlier this year, Tshwane tackled a huge site of illegal connections around its reservoir in Mamelodi. According to former mayor Cilliers Brink, the city should see the results of addressing the illegal connections in its non-revenue water levels in the coming months due to “walking the lines” to identify illegal connections and also deploying technology to assist with leaks.
Tshwane also adopted a water strategy earlier this year — one that according to water experts should go a long way to boost its management of its supply and demand going forward.
Majodina told parliament that Gauteng municipalities had to do four simple things: close the leaks, address illegal connections, bill correctly and focus on maintaining their reservoirs. All of these things were “doable”, she said, some within 72 hours.
Municipalities across Gauteng know what needs to be done — the national department and Rand Water have met them repeatedly. Rand Water told parliament of 46 meetings in recent weeks. It meets some councils daily.
The big question is why municipalities are dragging their feet when they are fully aware of the situation. Are there personal and business interests holding back the metros in Gauteng from doing the right thing? There is already noise about the so-called “water tanker mafia” — Tshwane was affected by this last year.
Gauteng metros have a blueprint for addressing the water crisis in the province — they just need to act, and fast.
• Marrian is Business Day editor at large.
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