By Lebone Rodah Mosima and Charmaine Ndlela
The DA has announced plans to take the City of Johannesburg to court over its failure to provide essential water services, as protests flared in Parktown, Melville and surrounding suburbs.
The announcement was made on Wednesday at Nkululeko House in Bruma, Johannesburg.
DA federal chairperson Helen Zille said the party would take both Johannesburg Water and the City of Johannesburg to court following two years of legal consultations.
“We want to ensure that they implement the turnaround strategy to end the crisis and fulfil their constitutional duty to provide residents and businesses with access to clean, reliable water,” Zille said.
She argued that R4 billion could be invested in infrastructure instead of being spent on water tankers, and said the court action would seek accountability for alleged corruption and mismanagement.
Parts of the city have reportedly been without water for up to 24 days, despite the existence of a council-adopted water action plan that is not being implemented, according to DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga.
“Johannesburg has an existing water action plan, one adopted by council with inputs from the DA. This plan gathers dust as Morero fails to act. No implementation, no funding and no political will solve Johannesburg’s water woes,” Msimanga said.
Msimanga called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to address the crisis during the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday night.
“Tomorrow [Thursday] at SONA we want the President to start by addressing the state of disaster that has occurred in South Africa and in a number of provinces and municipalities. Residents are desperate to have water coming out of their taps, and this situation cannot continue,” he said.
DA Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink said the City of Tshwane had failed to reinvest water revenue into infrastructure, contributing to rising water losses.
“In the same period of escalating water losses, Tshwane’s spending on water tankers — an emergency measure to supply water to people who already have taps — increased by 500%,” Brink said.
“If half of this billion rand spent on water tankers had been used to upgrade infrastructure, we believe Tshwane could have stabilised water losses at least at 32%.”
He called for stricter vetting and payment controls on tanker invoices, a redirection of funds towards infrastructure upgrades, and permanent leadership in the water department following the suspension of its head over an allegedly irregular tender.
Referring to the revised 1998 White Paper on Local Government, Msimanga said municipalities face mounting service delivery challenges while funding remains concentrated at higher levels of government.
“We need to deal with mismanagement, unfunded mandates and the explosion of population in municipalities,” he said.
“When you look at the revenue municipalities can generate and the grants they receive, there is still a huge hole that needs to be plugged.”
DA water and sanitation spokesperson Stephen Moore said political decisions were behind the collapse of Gauteng’s water system.
“Gauteng’s water system has been brought to collapse by failing ANC-led municipalities and a lack of transparency from Rand Water. There is an abundance of water, but the immediate solution is to stop wasting what we already have,” Moore said.
He also criticised delays in Phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, which was intended to boost supply to Gauteng.
“That project was meant to be completed years ago. Instead, it is still years away and has already cost South Africans R52 billion, a figure expected to rise,” he said.
Meanwhile, the People’s Water Forum — a coalition of activists, residents and water experts, including WaterCAN — delivered a letter to President Ramaphosa on Tuesday calling for urgent intervention and a national disaster declaration.
“Johannesburg residents are already living Day Zero,” said WaterCAN executive director Ferrial Adam.
“Water tanks should never become the norm. They are meant to be an emergency measure, not a substitute for a functioning water system. We urge the President to act decisively and visibly.”
The forum has called on organisations to endorse the letter by Thursday, stressing that coordinated national action is needed to address a crisis affecting millions.
“Johannesburg cannot wait for infrastructure to catch up while millions go without reliable water,” Adam said.
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