Water, water, water everywhere
This is a far cry from the figures released by the AG.
On the backdrop of the water crisis in Jackaroo Park, Clearwater Estate and Blanchville earlier this week, water distribution losses are a concern for the auditor- general (AG)
The AG’s report was submitted in December last year and reflects the municipality’s financial position as at June 30, 2017.
The municipality was scolded because the AG was unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to support distribution losses.
“I was unable to determine whether any adjustment was necessary relating to distribution losses,” the AG noted.
Municipal spokesperson, Mr Kingdom Mabuza said the municipality estimate water losses to be in the region of 35%.
“This is owing to leaking meters, burst pipes and there are unavoidable losses like when we do maintenance of the infrastructure, and we also lose water when our engines are engaged in fire extinguishing.”
This is a far cry from the figures released by the AG.
As disclosed in the financial statements water losses to the amount of R50 111 108 were incurred. This represents 69.93% of the total water purchased.
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According to the municipal financial reports, 4 828.09ML of bulk potable water was purchased through Anglo, Eskom and a package plant. The AG could only find audited evidence of 6 615ML of that.
The municipality said they transported 148.35ML of water through water tankers to communities without water.
However, the AG could only find 111ML of audited evidence thereof.
Closing the R555 was the last resort the community took after their pleas for water fell on deaf ears.
They experienced dry taps for the past three weeks. They have tried all avenues to get the municipality to prioritise their water situation.
Just a few meters away from the affected area, water is streaming down Libertas Street, Fleur Avenue, Beuke Street to name only a few.
WITBANK NEWS asked Mabuza what the response time is when a water leak is reported.
On water, it depends on the magnitude of the problem.
When a big pipe which supplies many households leaks we prioritise it ahead of, for example, a leaking meter.
Our response time depends on how many other problems we are dealing with on any given day, is between four to six hours.”
However, on the Ward 20 Whatsapp group residents are furious because no attention is given to water leaks in the area they report on a daily basis.
Ward Cllr Roy Cronje is giving regular updates as he receives it from the municipality.
When one looks at the date it is reported and the response from the municipality it is clear that the four to six hours is not a true reflection of what is happening.
It leaves one to wonder if the municipality have enough equipment and parts to fix water problems as they arise.
“We have equipment but we cannot say it is enough given the old infrastructure which we have to regularly attend to. The municipality is currently replacing the old infrastructure to minimise the need to frequently have to fix the old infrastructure,” Mabuza said.
