‘Water is not a free-for-all’: Borehole use in Gauteng faces legal scrutiny

Many people do not know about the borehole regulations and because of the current water issues in Gauteng, people who can afford it think they can do whatever they want, according to environmental scientist Ayesha Laher.

“It’s not free and you cannot use as much as you like. There is national legislation on what you can abstract. Water affairs is the custodian of all water services and groundwater and we need to comply with their regulations.

“If you extract a certain amount of groundwater that exceeds what’s written in the National Water Act you need to apply for licences for the abstraction of that groundwater or surface water,” she said.

Bylaws require people to register borehole 

Laher said bylaws require that people register the borehole and only use it according to the National Water Act, which limits private use to a certain amount.

“People don’t know about these regulations, there is a standard SANS10299 that tells you how the person must drill the hole and a recharge test and test how much water you can take out of the water aquifer.

ALSO READ: Water experts not surprised that illegal boreholes caused Gautrain tunnel damage

“People don’t know how much water they are supposed to extract, they think it’s for free. When you exceed the amount, you are supposed to apply for authorisation and if it’s not approved it’s illegal use of water.

“When people drill, they should know whether it’s a dolomitic area, which is an area you don’t drill into,” she said.

“In Centurion, Tshwane, you cannot drill it’s a dolomitic area; you cannot drill there you will cause a sinkhole.”

Register or else

Laher said it was important to register the borehole with the local municipality otherwise people might end up with a situation where a person drills a borehole into a tunnel.

“It is a miracle that the water or sand did not fall onto a Gautrain or they flooded the entire tunnels,” she said, referring to a portion of the Gautrain tunnel being declared unsafe because of borehold drilling.

ALSO READ: City of Johannesburg warns against drilling boreholes without approval

Yesterday, the mayor of Tshwane, Nasiphi Moya, urged residents to use water sparingly before implementation of level 2 water restrictions after water consumption reached extreme low levels.

“Gauteng is currently in the midst of a water crisis that we have continuously warned residents about since 2024.

“Rand Water has stated that its reserve levels have decreased considerably, and Gauteng’s three metropolitan municipalities are the biggest contributors to the declining reserve levels,” she said.

Tshwane water consumption more than recommended threshold

Moya said Rand Water had tracked the water consumption levels in Tshwane and warned that in January, residents continuously consumed more water than the recommended threshold.

“We have consumed more than 752 megalitres (ML) per day for January and into February. Our consumption recorded on 3 February was 853ML per day,” she said.

ALSO READ: Water is scarce, so let’s control boreholes

Akasia Park reservoir, Koedoesnek reservoir, The Reeds reservoir and Wonderboom reservoir have been identified as the highest consumers in the city.

This week, Joburg Water also reported that some of the city’s systems were still under strain, which resulted in low water levels in some of its reservoirs and towers across the city.

City’s system under strain

Joburg Water spokesperson Nombuso Tshabalala says this means certain supply areas are experiencing low water levels or a complete loss of supply.

“Currently monitored and impacted systems include Crosby, Brixton, Hursthill, Crown Gardens, Eagles Nest, Berea, Forest Hill, Lenasia, South Hills, Parktown, Ferndale Heldercrane and Constantia.”