Water availability could ‘deteriorate rapidly’, warns minister Majodina

Water and and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina has called on South Africans to treat water like a scarce resource and for municipalities to fix the leaks in their water distribution systems. Picture: Itumeleng English/ Independent Newspapers

Water and and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina has called on South Africans to treat water like a scarce resource and for municipalities to fix the leaks in their water distribution systems. Picture: Itumeleng English/ Independent Newspapers

Published Nov 13, 2024

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Water and and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina has called on South Africans to treat water like a scarce resource and for municipalities to fix the leaks in their water distribution systems.

Delivering her executive statement on water security in the National Assembly on Tuesday, Majodina also warned that water availability could deteriorate rapidly in the country as the demand escalated.

“Raw (untreated) water supply is currently approximately in balance with existing demand on a national scale, but there are localised deficits in the supply of water such as in Gauteng and parts of KwaZulu-Natal.

“However, water availability in South Africa could deteriorate rapidly as supply contracts and demand escalates due to economic growth, population growth, urbanization, inefficient use, including increasing physical losses in municipal distribution systems, degradation of wetlands, and the impacts of climate change.”

Delays in the implementation of surface water resource development projects have now been addressed and all planned projects accelerated.

“The projects will address future raw water needs for industry, agriculture and domestic use,” she said.

Majodina added there were limits to which South Africa could keep building dams to address its water security needs.

“We are already harnessing approximately 75% of our utilizable surface water resources, and the remaining opportunities for capturing surface water in large dams are expensive.”

“If we are to avoid water shortages in future, South Africans need to change their behaviour and treat water like the scarce resource that it is.

“This means that municipalities must fix the leaks in their water distribution systems. We cannot afford to throw away almost half of the water that is supplied to municipalities through leaks.”

Majodina said current water supply disruptions in Gauteng, eThekwini and surrounding municipalities were not caused by drought.

“They are caused by rapid growth in the demand for water in these cities, caused partly by population growth and partly by increasing leaks in municipal water distribution systems.

“The leaks are in turn the result of under-budgeting for infrastructure maintenance by municipalities, which is partly caused by weak municipal billing and revenue collection for water services.”

Water losses averaged 33% across Gauteng municipalities and about 45% in eThekwini, compared to the international norm of 15%.

The minister said the Drop reports showed that municipal water and waste water services have generally declined sharply over the last 10 years and that the decline in the delivery of municipal water services happened despite high levels of support from the national government to municipalities.

“This indicates that support is necessary but not sufficient to turn around the decline, and structural reform of the municipal water services function is also required.

“The solution is not for the national government to take over municipal water functions,” she said.

MK Party MP Nkosinathi Nxumalo said water security was threatened due to inadequate funds for water infrastructure maintenance, and corruption.

DA MP Stephen Moore noted with concern that 47% of water treatment systems were in poor state, 68% sanitation treatment plants in critical risk and 41% of water was lost through leaks.He said the local government could not be left to operate without oversight.

“The water crisis is self-inflicted by municipal mismanagement,” he said, adding that the culprits should be named and shamed.

EFF MP Rebecca Mohlala said Majodina’s statement was full of empty promises.

Mohlala accused the Minister of boasting about raw water security, money pumped into water infrastructure projects and delayed infrastructure projects being in progress when taps ran dry in parts of the country. “This is not mismanagement. This is a crime against humanity,” she said.

Cape Times