The ongoing water supply disruptions currently being experienced in the major cities of Johannesburg and eThekwini, are caused by inadequate budgeting for maintenance, refurbishment, and renewal of infrastructure by municipal councils.
This was revealed by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) in response to the Sunday Independent article which revealed last week that South Africa was approaching physical water scarcity in 2025 and that the country is expected to experience a water deficit of 17% by 2030.
Two of the country’s biggest cities – Johannesburg and eThekwini – have been experiencing disrupted water supply and the DWS has pinned the problem on rapid growth and the demand for water, primarily caused by in-migration into the cities.
“Physical water losses, such as leaks in municipal water distribution systems, have increased. These increased leaks in municipal distribution systems are, in turn, caused by inadequate budgeting for maintenance, refurbishment, and renewal of infrastructure by municipal councils.
“In addition to under-budgeting for maintenance, many municipalities have failed to budget adequately for the development of additional water distribution infrastructure to cater for their growing populations, such as additional reservoirs and pumping stations,” said DWS spokesperson Wisane Mavasa.
She added that this, in turn, was partly caused by weak billing and revenue collection systems in municipalities, and a lack of prioritisation of budgets for water services by municipalities.
According to the department, among the causes of water and sanitation service delivery problems at municipal level were poorly governed, poorly managed, and under-performing institutions, resulting in high losses and high cost of inefficiencies, including non-payment for services provided.
Mavasa explained that the water sector was experiencing challenges countrywide.
“This is attested by the Blue, Green, and No Drop reports issued by the Department of Water and Sanitation in December last year which indicated that there had been a decline in the quality of water services provided by municipalities over the past 10 years.
“The technical challenges vary from under-resourced infrastructure, lack and inadequate water supply, physical water losses (water leaks), spillage of sewer in streets and our natural resources, and lack of operation and maintenance.
“Other external factors that contribute towards these challenges include the weakened economy, national power interruptions, high unemployment, and poverty, theft and vandalism.”
On action required to prevent the ongoing water crisis, the department stated that the national government transferred approximately R60 billion per annum to municipalities.
This was in the form of infrastructure grants and a portion of the equitable share to assist municipalities in addressing backlogs in water and sanitation distribution infrastructure and to enable municipalities to provide free basic water to the indigent.
“Apart from these grants, water services must be self-financing through revenues from the sale of water. There is currently no legal requirement for municipalities to use revenue from the sale of water to fund the development, maintenance, and operation of water services, and many municipalities allocate part of this revenue to other functions.
“DWS and National Treasury are currently investigating the possibility of addressing this by requiring such revenues to be ring-fenced for expenditure on water services.
“Thirdly, the major water resource infrastructure projects that were planned for implementation to supply additional water to Gauteng and eThekwini have been delayed. This has resulted in a situation where there is a shortage of raw water.
“There are also some other areas of the country where there is a shortage of raw water. For these areas including Gauteng and eThekwini, DWS is in the process of implementing a range of water resource development projects to address this shortage,” Mavase said.
She indicated that the second phase of the R40 billion Lesotho Highlands Project was currently under construction to deliver additional water into the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS).
She said this in turn would enable Rand Water to abstract more water and treat it and supply it to municipalities in Gauteng.
“Rand Water is currently implementing an R35 billion capital works programme so that it will be able to treat this additional water when it starts entering the IVRS in 2028. This will greatly reduce the risk of water supply interruptions in Gauteng in the future.
“However, even after Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) phase 2 comes online, Gauteng’s long-term water consumption will need to be carefully managed. (This is) because there are limits to which further phases of LHWP or other water transfer projects can continue to provide additional water to Gauteng at an affordable cost,” said Mavase.
South Africa is a water-scarce country with limited sustainable water resources and is among the top 30 driest countries globally.
However, the department found that the average per capita water consumption in Gauteng is 279 litres per day, compared to the world average of 173 litres per day.
Officials have acknowledged the need for a public awareness campaign on the importance of water conservation and water use efficiency.
-IOL
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