Joburg Water has called on residents to use water sparingly as it is experiencing severe pressure at the reservoirs and towers due to increased water consumption.
Image: Bhekikhaya Mabaso / Independent Newspapers
While the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pemmy Majodina declared there is no water crisis in South Africa, the DA in Gauteng has challenged this assertion, pointing to infrastructure failures rather than resident overconsumption as the root cause of the province's water crisis.
This comes after the DA in the province accused Gauteng Premier, Panyaza Lesufi of failing to take responsibility over the province's water challenges, accusing him of by blaming residents for water wastage.
Last week, during his State of the Province Address (SOPA) Lesufi indicated that while his government apologises for the water crisis in the province, resident's consumption patterns also added to water challenges.
However, Nico de Jager, DA shadow MEC for Infrastructure in the province was critical of Lesufi, saying this view not only demonstrates a profound failure to understand the real issues but underscores failure by the government to shoulder responsibility as years of neglected maintenance and leakages are key factors in the crisis the province finds itself in.
"The province loses over 50% of water received from Rand Water through technical and non-technical failures – not through resident overconsumption. Municipalities must return to their core mandate: delivering essential services including water, electricity, sanitation, and roads."
"The National Treasury benchmark recommends spending 8% of total budgets on infrastructure maintenance and refurbishment – a standard consistently ignored," said De Jager.
Speaking during the launch of National Water Month on Saturday following her site visit to the Rand Water Pumpstation in Eikenhof, south of Johannesburg, Majodina said that the country's water capacity remains stable, with dam levels said to be in good condition.
“We are not in a crisis, our water balance is very good, but we do have local deficits. The pumpstation supplies over 60% of Johannesburg’s water. “If we did not have the Eikenhof pump station running alongside City Power, we will have a problem. We want to turn the situation around and ensure that people in Gauteng have access to water,” Majodina said.
Lesufi who attended the launch said his administration in collaboration with other stakeholders is working around the clock in resolving severe water shortages which have led to protests in some parts of the province.
“Where we were in December to where we are now, there’s been drastic improvement. Those who complain when improvements are made vanish, I don’t know where they go. Our commitment is to ensure no one in Gauteng struggles to get water and no one should have to rely on a water tanker unless it’s an emergency,” Lesufi added.
Dr Andrew Dickson, engineering executive at CBi-electric recently urged national and local governments to adopt smart technologies to tackle water shortages.
"Without clear data, we’re guessing the extent of the problem. Smart tech delivers real-time insights to identify inefficiencies and predict future demand. These technologies also pick up patterns and performance trends, enabling predictive maintenance to prevent equipment failures, costly repairs, and service disruptions. At the same time, proactive interventions extend the lifespan of infrastructure, ensuring long-term efficiency," he said.
siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za
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