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Rand Water emphasises that Gauteng's water shortages stem primarily from excessive consumption rather than supply constraints.
Picture: iStock
Lack of water supply is not causing shortages in Gauteng, chief executive officer of Rand Water Sipho Mosai says.
He said there are five reasons Gauteng has persistent water challenges, with the first one being high municipal water consumption.
In a detailed presentation to the portfolio committee on cooperative governance and traditional affairs on Tuesday, Rand Water officials outlined critical challenges facing South Africa’s municipal water systems and proposed innovative solutions to address mounting debt and infrastructure concerns.
Contrary to popular perception, Rand Water emphasised that Gauteng’s water shortages stem primarily from excessive consumption rather than supply constraints.
“You don’t have a water production problem, you don’t have a water supply problem, you have a problem of high water consumption,” stated Mosai.
He revealed that South Africans consume an average of 218l per person daily, significantly higher than the global average of 173l.
The presentation highlighted Gauteng’s consumption at 279l per person daily, while the Western Cape demonstrates better water management at 164l per person.
Mosai said this data suggested that effective conservation is achievable in South Africa.
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Another factor causing water shortages and which proved to be a major concern raised during the meeting was the alarming rate of non-revenue water in the system.
According to Rand Water, nearly 50% of water supplied to Gauteng municipalities generates no revenue, with physical water losses accounting for 33% of the total supply.
“If you have non-revenue water that is as high as we starting to see in the system and then we have physical losses now at 33%, it’s not going to help,” the CEO said, emphasising that addressing these losses is crucial for sustainable water management.
Other issues Mosai addressed were high illegal connections and vandalism of infrastructure.
He said these contributed significantly to water losses, although he added that Joburg water was attending to the illegal connections.
The third reason for water outages is encroachment of infrastructure.
Building informal structures next to the utilities’ infrastructure often led to pipe bursts.
He warned that building on top of water infrastructure could be fatal to the dwellers.
The fourth challenge was intermittent electricity supply. “We are one of the highest electricity users in the countr. We belong into the intensive energy use group. We use north of 300 megawatts, which is a power station on its own.”
Mosai emphasised that power outages affect water supply.
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The fifth reason which Mosai coined as another elephant in the room was municipal debt.
The Rand Water CEO characterised municipal debt as “a runaway train” threatening Rand Water’s financial sustainability.
Mosai explained that the water utility, which has operated for 121 years without government bailouts, depends on timely payments from municipalities to maintain operations and infrastructure.
“We’ve got to be paid on time to buy electricity, to buy chemicals, to pay our staff, to upgrade our infrastructure, to maintain it, to refurbish it,” he said.
Municipal payment periods have extended from 35 days to 117 days, creating severe financial strain.
The presentation categorised municipalities as performing, on payment terms, underperforming and non-performing.
While some municipalities like Midvaal pay within 35 days, others have negotiated payment terms, and some consistently fail to honour debt settlement agreements.
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To address these challenges, Rand Water has proposed establishing special purpose vehicles (SPVs) as joint ventures with municipalities.
Mosai explained that these professionally managed entities would take over water service provision while municipalities retain authority as water service authorities.
“The special purpose vehicle, which will be a new company, will be a water services provider,” the CEO said.
Mosai emphasised that the current model of water service delivery is failing: “We need to reimagine how we provide water and sanitation. The current model we’ve been running for the last 30 years is not working. We’re talking about leaks. Why do we have so many leaks? It’s precisely because the infrastructure has not been upgraded or refurbished.”
Under this model, municipal debt would convert to equity in the SPV, allowing municipalities to “start from scratch” while bringing in investment and expertise.
According to Mosai, this approach is not privatisation but rather a partnership between government institutions to improve service delivery.
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Committee members expressed several concerns about Rand Water’s approach, particularly regarding water restriction practices as a debt collection measure.
Chair Dr Zwelini Lawrence Mkhize voiced disapproval of water termination: “While we do sympathise with the difficulty you have with the cooperation of municipalities, we don’t believe that the communities must be punished as a result.”
EFF MP Hlengiwe Octavia Mkhaliphi questioned the high cost of water and the impact on communities, asking, “How much do you charge municipalities?”
Mkhaliphi emphasised that unemployment contributes to illegal connections and non-payment.
Committee members also raised concerns about withholding equitable share payments, with Mkhize noting: “The equitable shares for services to the community is not for Rand Water, it’s for the community.”
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uMkhonto weSizwe party MP Zwelakhe Elija Mthethwa suggested exploring alternative water sources: “Why don’t we harvest rain water for household purposes?”
He also questioned the lack of focus on seawater desalination: “We are a coastal country which means we are sitting with a water body in the form of a sea… if we have the knowledge to purify water surely we must have the knowledge to purify sea water.”
Several members emphasised the historical context of water infrastructure development.
“By virtue of you being 121 years, it tells you that the conceptualisation of your function was done in the old order dispensation,” Mthethwa noted.
He said the system was originally designed for a much smaller population and has not adequately adapted to serve the entire population.
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Mkhaliphi highlighted the recurring excuse of aging infrastructure.
“All the time when we engage municipalities, why do you fail to provide water to poor communities?
“Aging infrastructure, aging infrastructure, as if no one knew this infrastructure will age at some point.”
Throughout the session, water leakage was repeatedly identified as the most urgent issue requiring immediate attention.
“If you ask me what needs to happen now, if we can focus all our efforts in fixing the leaks as a short-term gap, water will get to where it has to,” said Mosai.
“If the municipality fixes the leaks, there will be enough water to go around. It gives us a breather, and then we’ll deal with aging infrastructure.”
Chief financial officer Matshidiso Nyembe presented data on water tariff increases, explaining that the proposed 14% increase for the coming year is driven primarily by external factors beyond their control.
“The bulk of our cost is raw water cost. It contributes close to 40%, about 38.9%, of our overall operational cost,” Nyembe explained.
The presentation showed that raw water costs are expected to increase by 25%, largely due to recalculation of royalty fees to the Lesotho government through the Lesotho Highlands Authority.
Mosai added that while their internally controllable costs are being maintained at inflation-level increases of 3-6%, “The problem of that 14% is external.”
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