OPINION | Capable leadership ultimate solution to Gauteng water crisis

As spring and summer approach, Gauteng and surrounding provinces face another water crisis.

Sadly, this has become the new normal for our country, after years of failure to upgrade our infrastructure for our growing population.

We have been unprepared in previous seasons, including last year, resulting in dire consequences. This season, and for those to come, we ought to not only prepare ourselves for periods of water shortages – but also, as citizens, take greater responsibility in ensuring the quality provision of our basic services. This includes electing stable local councils.

Gauteng’s bulk water supplier, Rand Water, services a population of about 14-million people, including parts of Mpumalanga, the Free State and North West. It shares its service areas with the Vaal Central and Magalies Water Boards, which face imminent bankruptcy. A fuller discussion on the deterioration of our water bodies nationally requires a separate piece.

Returning to Gauteng, the province’s population has grown sizeably in the past two decades. In 2001, Gauteng had a population of nine-million residents, which today is estimated at more than 15-million.

In this period, while Gauteng has welcomed more than six-million residents, it has not upgraded its infrastructure to accommodate them.

The City of Johannesburg alone faces a water infrastructure deficit of about R27bn, as its year-on-year water infrastructure expenditure is a third of the city’s needs.

Consequently, as its infrastructure faces immense pressure from a population size it cannot accommodate, leaks then begin to emerge.

For Gauteng residents, images of burst pipes are too familiar. On average, Gauteng municipalities lose 40% of their water (or non-revenue water). While a portion of this goes to indigent residents, the vast majority is lost through leaks.

More than consumers being unable to access water due to leaks, municipalities also cannot make revenue on water lost, resulting in less funding towards infrastructure.

In addition to water losses through leaks, various municipalities in Gauteng over-consume. Per population size, Rand Water sets consumption targets.

Consider the Cities of Ekurhuleni and Tshwane, of similar population sizes. While Ekurhuleni, with about four-million residents, consumes 1,000ml daily; in contrast, Tshwane uses 750ml per day, demonstrating more efficient water use.

Of further concern is a comparison of Ekurhuleni and the City of Johannesburg's consumptions. While Johannesburg has two-million more residents than Ekurhuleni, their difference in consumption is 650ML, which is 100ml shy of Tshwane's daily consumption.

Gauteng residents must remember that municipalities account to them – and that they are not at the behest of bad governance. In constitutional democracy, our governments are of our choosing. Residents must therefore demand action, as employers would with employees. This includes demanding from municipalities:

1. Fixing leaks: Municipalities must prioritise both reactive and proactive maintenance of water infrastructure. This includes addressing water leaks in pipes, reservoirs, and pump stations as well as accelerating pipe replacement programmes before vulnerable pipes burst.
2. Reducing over-consumption: Municipalities over-consuming must urgently reduce their consumption, as one municipality’s over-consumption takes away from residents of other municipalities.
3. Communicating clearly: Municipalities must launch urgent public awareness campaigns to inform residents and businesses about the situation at hand, and its developments, and encourage all to use water wisely.
4. Planning for restrictions: In peak summer, water restrictions will likely be necessary to manage demand. The sooner municipalities prepare for this possibility, the better.

The ultimate solution to Gauteng’s water crisis, and water issues plaguing our whole country, is electing capable leadership. We need municipal councils that serve residents and not party politics.

• Moore is DA deputy spokesperson on water and sanitation