GMM worries about water throttling

The Govan Mbeki Municipality Mayor Nhlakanipho Zuma told the council during its meeting last month that the municipality is concerned about water throttling by Rand Water.

Zuma said the municipality has been faced with challenges as Rand Water has been struggling to pump water as required and as per the agreements between the parties.

Zuma said this is because of many reasons, such as water shortages from the Vaal Dam due to hyacinth infestation, electricity shortages and vandalism.

“We cannot rule out the act of foul play by Rand Water because GMM also owes a large amount of money,” hinted Zuma.

“If this can be confirmed, it would be a very sad story of an act in bad faith by a reputable organisation.

“We are aware there have been some forms of throttling of water by Rand Water which were not announced and never agreed upon. Outstanding debt was never the reason for it.”

Zuma said the municipality has been making payments towards the account monthly but as water losses and interest on money owed remain very high, the municipality cannot afford to settle the immediate amount owed.

GMM has this month paid R18m to Rand Water and R20m to Eskom.

According to the mayor, measures have been put in place to reduce water losses and negotiations are being held from time to time between the two parties to come up with solutions to the challenges faced by both institutions.

“The water challenges further perpetrate the inherited sanitation challenges. This comes as a result of blocking pipe infrastructure as there is no sufficient lubrication for a perfect flow of waste.

“This unfortunately leads to rivers of sewage spilling onto our roads and further creates an added burden onto an already over-loaded, aged sewer network infrastructure.

“We have begun looking at alternative water sources and we are working with the Council for Geoscience to test the quality of groundwater. A few boreholes have already been drilled across the municipality,” said Zuma.

Early last month, Kinross residents took their anger to the street after staying for days without water.

They blocked the busy R547 and the town’s main intersection with burning tyres until Zuma attended to them.

Rand Water has recently issued a statement warning the GMM residents about long periods of dry taps as the water utility will be embarking on a planned maintenance of its infrastructure.

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