DA calls for ring-fenced maintenance budgets to address major water losses

The DA has called on Mpumalanga Cooperative Governance MEC Mandla Ndlovu to issue a provincial-wide directive for municipalities to ring-fence funds for water network upgrades.

DA legislature member Trudie Grove-Morgan petitioned MEC Ndlovu to force municipalities to ring-fence a portion of their budgets for infrastructure maintenance, as continued water distribution losses remain a serious threat to water security.

The call comes on the back of the newly released 2020/2021 provincial water and sanitation overview report, which found that 60 per cent of water supply infrastructure in Mpumalanga municipalities is aged asbestos networks prone to bursts and leaks.

Middelburg residents can relate to municipalities like Lekwa, eMalahleni, Dr JS Moroka and Thembisile Hani.

Some municipalities face major deficits due to the problem, including:

• The current water demand in eMalahleni far exceeds what the municipality can supply, with a running deficit of 39.43ML a day.

• In Dr JS Moroka, the current deficit is 20ML a day.

• The current water supply deficit in Thembisile Hani is 17.1ML each day.

According to 2020/2021 annual municipal reports, the cost of water distribution losses in Lekwa has increased from R63 million to R78 million.

Water losses in Thembisile Hani for the period under review tallied R63 million, while eMalahleni’s total water losses increased from approximately 15 million kilolitres to 18 million in the previous financial year.

“Our municipalities also cite lack of infrastructure maintenance, and requisite tools of trade, amongst leading causes of water losses,” Ms Grove-Morgan says.

“As the past couple of years have wreaked havoc on our provincial economy and resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs, we call on MEC Ndlovu to create an environment conducive to attracting investors, by dealing with preventable losses and the resultant water deficiency in many municipalities.”