When politicians show you who they are, believe them, and do not forget. More than an exceptional own goal, Panyaza Lesufi’s “hotel shower” choices ought to be the last straw for the millions of Gauteng residents facing the daily indignity of dry taps, especially those who have not voted in previous elections.
The ANC in Gauteng has presided over millions of people losing access to water while creating an environment for the water tanker mafia to extort already suffering South Africans.
The politics of this are so clear to see, so who will tackle the problem? We have three ways to fix it, which entail ensuring money raised by water sales is spent on water upgrades, allocating more in annual budgets for water infrastructure, and ensuring an absolutely inescapable accountability culture for failures if they happen.
Rescuing our country from its water crisis and restoring access to clean water for all is a real question on the upcoming local government ballot paper.
For those South Africans living with dry taps, it is time to vote like never before. Turning out to vote for water means voting for a party to govern your community that has a track record of delivering water.
It requires voting for a party that replaces and upgrades infrastructure, rather than one that puts patches on leaks. When old infrastructure is just patched up, it will only fail residents weeks later.
Failed local governments take the revenue they make from water revenue paid by residents and spend it on other things, such as fleets of fancy cars, enormous catering budgets, business-class flights, and paying salaries to an army of employed officials often appointed for their political proximity, not their skills.
To undo this and to get the money which is raised by water sales to be spent on upgrading and restoring the water supply system at the local government level, we have to make it compulsory for this money to be ring-fenced for this purpose.
It must be a rule that it cannot be spent on anything else. Part of the plan to fix the water crisis must be to bring legal measures to “ring-fence” water revenue. And while we are at it, we should do the same for the money municipalities bring in from electricity sales so that electricity pylons stop collapsing in broken metros.
When a property owner pays money to a municipality for a service, the resident should be able to expect that it will be spent on infrastructure repairs and maintenance to keep that service going.
But what a mistaken assumption that would be, where badly intentioned political parties are in charge and do the exact opposite.
In Johannesburg, at least R4bn of ratepayer funds meant for ailing water infrastructure were taken by the city for reasons they refuse to disclose.
While being the economic hub of our continent, Johannesburg has delivered less than a quarter (98km) of the water and sanitation piping that Cape Town has over the past three years (401km).
The finance minister revealed in his latest budget speech that Johannesburg needs R64bn just to fix its water crisis. While a steep figure, a government that manages its books well can make significant progress without bankrupting the city or its residents.
Johannesburg has lost about R2.4bn in revenue over eight months from water leaks. Sadly, when you look at the city’s budget, one can tell why. Of the nearly R90bn budgeted over the next three years, Joburg Water is set to only receive around 6% (R5.6bn).
That is if Joburg Water receives the full 6%, as the city takes funds from entities without controls. A city in an existential water crisis, like Joburg and many other places, needs to treat water as a central budget item.
Reports suggest that the ANC is considering replacing Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero. To be clear, this is not because they believe Morero has failed at his job (which he has).
In government, it is fair to compare Johannesburg with Cape Town. A Cape Town official was recently cornered and offered a R4m cash bribe by a company doing business with the city.
However, in this case, the tenderpreneur was arrested and will never do business with the city again.
The right to water really can be on the ballot paper in this upcoming local government election.
— Stephen Moore MP
Where taps are dry, there is a way out. The right to water really can be on the ballot paper in this upcoming local government election, and if we vote for ring-fencing, infrastructure upgrades, and accountability, we can get water into your taps.
- Moore is an MP and DA spokesperson on water and sanitation
