Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi says the province has tasked bulk potable supplier Rand Water to develop plans to prevent water shortage in the province.
Experts have warned that taps will soon dry in the province, which houses three of the country’s eight metropolitan municipalities, the City of Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg, and Tshwane.
GAUTENG FACES POTENTIAL WATER CRISIS
During a media briefing on Wednesday, 30 October, Lesufi said he has taken over the chairmanship of the intergovernmental relations together with the minister of water and sanitation to ensure that the matter is averted.
Lesufi said they have also asked Rand Water’s leadership to develop solutions to help avert possible water shortages during the December period.
Additionally, Lesufi confirmed that all municipalities have agreed to enforce level 1 restrictions to curb non-essential water usage in the province.
In a bid to prevent water shortage, in September, Rand Water imposed level 1 restriction in Gauteng due to increased demand.
“Our water usage needs to reflect that we are facing a crisis, and we therefore call upon our citizens to use water sparingly,” he said.
HOW WILL GOVERNMENT DEAL WITH THE ISSUE?
Lesufi said their immediate task is to deal with leakages, as 33% of the water the province receives gets lost through the system.
“If we can’t put resources and time into tackling this matter, we get problems. Our challenge is not weather patterns and infrastructure-related matters but leakages,” he said.
Water and sanitation minister Pemmy Majodina has also acknowledged that a growing population is one of the main reasons behind strained systems, but illegal connections, unbilled connections, and physical losses such as leaks from municipal water distribution systems are also factors.
PREMIER CHALLENGED TO A PUBLIC DEBATE
Earlier this month, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader in Gauteng, Solly Msimanga, said it is time for Lesufi and his executive to step up and solve the province’s water crisis.
Msimanga accused the Gauteng government of failing to prioritise creating a provincial infrastructure master plan which would enable the province and all its municipalities to adequately manage resources and infrastructure and to plan the use of their budgets.
The former City of Tshwane mayor said the DA knows that Gauteng has enough water, but the problem is that the infrastructure is failing.
Msimanga said Johannesburg’s water pipe infrastructure is 12,300 km, and in the last financial year, just under 30 km of pipes were repaired, updated, and replaced.
“I challenge Panyaza Lesufi to a public debate. We need to engage in a conversation around the Gauteng water crisis and come up with a transparent solution,” he said.
WHAT DO YOU THINK SHOULD BE DONE TO SOLVE THE WATER CRISIS IN GAUTENG?
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