President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a series of key measures to address the water supply crises affecting Johannesburg and other towns and cities throughout the country.
In his state of the nation address last night, Ramaphosa recognised the pain and frustration felt by people suffering from inadequate and unreliable supply of water.
The measures include the creation of a national water crisis committee, chaired by himself, which will consolidate and coordinate all existing efforts within a single body and will deploy technical experts to assist it. It would ensure that action is taken swiftly and effectively, Ramaphosa said.
This would be on the same lines as the National Energy Crisis Committee, which successfully addressed load-sheddling. He stressed, however, that there was no “silver bullet” to resolve the situation.
The president said that water and sanitation minister Pemmy Majodina, her deputy David Mahlobo, and cooperative governance and traditional affairs minister Velenkosini Hlabisa - whom he had instructed not to attend the state of the nation address to urgently deal with the water crisis in Johannesburg – were engaging with people in Gauteng to explain how the government intended to deal immediately with the problem.
The ministers have reported that damaged pipes were being repaired and reservoirs were filling up, Ramaphosa said. The government planned to spend R156bn in public money over the next three years on water and sanitation infrastructure.
With the local government elections on the horizon later this year, it is critical, particularly for the beleaguered ANC, to deal with the water and other service delivery failures plaguing municipalities, many of them bankrupt, across SA – such as refuse non-collections and sewage seepage – if the party is not to face the wrath of voters who have had enough.
Ramaphosa blamed the water crisis in municipalities on the failure to invest in infrastructure and maintenance, and said water service providers will be held accountable under the Water Services Amendment Act. If they cannot not provide water, their licences will be withdrawn and given to another structure.
The national government would also intervene when municipalities did not perform.
Criminal charges have already been laid against 56 municipaties that failed to fulfill their obligations, and charges will also be laid against municipal managers.
A lack of investment in infrastructure and maintenance, and mismanagement are major causes of the problems, with estimates suggesting that about 47,4% of all municipal water is lost due to leakages.
The department of water and sanitation estimates that it will cost about R400bn to fix water services infrastructure and for maintenance.
Meanwhile, the DA has decided to take the City of Johannesburg and Johannesburg Water to court over the water outages. It says the data from across SA shows a trend of increasing water disruptions.
Among the government’s plans to deal with water supply problems is the establishment – anticipated for later this year – of the National Water Resource Infrastructure Agency, which will mobilise finance for infrastructure investment and oversee its implementation.
Also, a R54bn incentive had been made available to metros to reform their water, electricity, and sanitation services.
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