THE government’s failure to plan for the future and fulfil its plans of increasing the capacity of its water resources has placed the supply of water in Gauteng under immense strain.
A report compiled by the Institute for Race Relations (IRR) has warned that over 15 million residents who call Gauteng home could see their taps run dry.
The institute said this would spell disaster for the province as well as the country’s economy.
The province, amid a growing population and growing economy, which is also driving up demand, is facing significant water security challenges.
Gauteng’s primary source of water is the Vaal Dam. However, the lack of rainfall has left South African dams parched and the water supply inconsistent, with the Vaal Dam suffering the most in the region.
According to the Weekly State of Dams, the Vaal Dam was 36.2% full as of the week of October 21, 2024; the lowest of any of the dams in its home province of the Free State.
The plan to increase overall dam capacity for the growing needs of Gauteng was deferred by eight years as the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) Phase 2, a water supply treaty between South Africa and Lesotho, encountered delays.
This has caused the completion date of the project, which was scheduled for 2020, to be pushed to 2028.
The LHWP project was signed in 1986, but almost 40 years later Gauteng’s water supply still faces long-term disruptions.
The IRR said these limitations on the water resources were further compounded by ageing infrastructure. The report stated that Gauteng’s blatant negligence cost the province’s municipalities millions of rands and millions more in losses of litres of safe, drinking water in the form of non-revenue water as well as water losses.
According to data from the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) in 2023, of the total annual volume of water entered through the Gauteng distribution system, 43% ended up as non-revenue water. Six of the nine regions reported on by the DWS achieved non-revenue water levels of above 30% which denoted a performance that ranges from poor to extremely poor.
Emfuleni Local Municipality, in the south of the province, recorded the highest volumes of non-revenue water out of all the Gauteng regions at 48.8%, followed by Rand West City at 43.6%, and Ekurhuleni coming in third place at 37.34%.
These were blamed on the leakages and many of the failures by municipalities to repair and perform maintenance.
“As of June 2024, Rand Water reported that 7.65% of the non-revenue water losses occurred internally, which, in keeping with measuring how efficacious the utility is, demonstrates a high level of efficiency by the entity.
“However, the total non-revenue water experienced within the Rand Water Area of supply totalled 42.5% with a national average of 47.7%.22 The poor management of these water resources has led to a huge deficit in our water supply and left a burning hole in our municipal finances,” read the report.
According to the report, municipal mismanagement was a prominent driver of the national average non-revenue water, as municipalities were primarily responsible for Gauteng’s escalating water crisis.
“Johannesburg Water is one of these municipal distributors responsible for managing and distributing water to Johannesburg residents. It purchases bulk water from Rand Water, treats it and distributes it across the city. This makes them directly responsible for maintaining pipelines, reservoirs, and treatment facilities.
Warnings of leaking and deteriorating reservoirs, corroded pipelines, persistent backlogs in responding to reported issues, and an imminent collapse have circulated for some time. The situation has now escalated, and stricter water restrictions are in place.
“However, Johannesburg Water recently revealed that 42 reservoirs were leaking, though the current budget allows for repairs to only 20 of them. This means that in the meantime, significant amounts of water continue to be lost before reaching consumers,” stated the report.
The report said more than half (54%) of the Rand Water supplied to Johannesburg reaches residents, and the rest slipped through the cracks, crooks, and careless books.
“In the case of Johannesburg, 35% of the water it receives is lost through leaks – a substantial increase from 25% at the beginning of 2024.24 This gives perspective on the city’s failure to address leaks swiftly and explains the importance of immediate repairs; where there is a drip today, expect a puddle tomorrow and a river by next week.”
These leakages left municipalities struggling to distribute enough water and generate sufficient revenue from the reduced supply. As a result, Gauteng municipalities owe Rand Water R2 billion.
This growing debt, alongside revenue losses from inefficient infrastructure, makes it increasingly difficult to secure funds for indispensable upgrades and repairs,” said IRR.
“Vandalism and theft added another layer of complexity,’’ according to the report.
However, on Tuesday, Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina told the media that while Gauteng battles many self-inflicted water challenges, it would not face a Day Zero.
Majodina said this was a self-inflicted pain by Gauteng municipalities because they were warned as early as June to take care of their water infrastructure, as they were losing lots of water.