The Democratic Alliance (DA) has urged Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Water to convene special sessions for Gauteng’s water entities and municipal leaders to appear and explain the significant failures responsible for widespread water shut-offs across much of the province.
Stephen Moore, DA deputy spokesperson on Water and Sanitation, said the announcement this week by Rand Water of reservoir levels dropping by almost 35% in the last month was alarming and demanded immediate action.
Moore said it is clear that urgent interventions are needed to prevent the complete collapse of the water supply system.
Moore said that Gauteng’s water crisis stems from a combination of pressing issues.
He said these include failing bulk infrastructure disrupts supply and leads to the loss of millions of litres.
“[Secondly] Billing and payment failures have resulted in enormous debt at both the municipal level and within water entities. A lack of skills and competence has worsened the situation, as unqualified cadres have replaced skilled engineers. Additionally, there has been no modernization of water treatment and supply systems due to both budget constraints and a lack of political will,” said Moore.
Moore added that it was now time for these serious issues to be addressed by Gauteng’s water entities and municipalities, and for them to account to Parliament as this crisis cannot continue.
“It is clear that urgent interventions are needed to prevent the complete collapse of the water supply system,” said Moore.
“Rand Water is currently pumping at full capacity, which is unsustainable given high temperatures and excessive leakages.”
Moore said communities in Vereeniging, Vanderbijlpark, Sasolburg, Yeoville, Benoni, and several municipalities, including Emfuleni, Metsimaholo, Ngwathe, Rustenburg, Royal Bafokeng, Rand West, Merafong, Mogale City, Johannesburg, and Ekurhuleni, are already facing severe water outages.
“This shows that the crisis extends well out of Gauteng too,” he said.
“Once Gauteng’s water entities and municipalities appear and present their plans, the DA will call on Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pemmy Majodina, to take the lead in holding them to account.”
INSIDE METROS