Minister of Water and Sanitation Pemmy Majodina has raised concerns over the deteriorating municipal water and sanitation services and billions owed to water boards.
She was speaking on plans and priorities for the 2024/25 financial year at Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg on Thursday.
She highlighted that the water boards were owed at least R21.3-billion. This, she said, threatened the financial viability of the water and sanitation sector.
This was highly caused by the municipal non-revenue water and the inability of the water sector to finance itself through water sales.
She said municipalities were responsible for ensuring that clean and drinkable water was available on their taps but the reports have shown otherwise.
According to the Blue Drop report, the water supply systems with poor microbiological water quality compliance have increased from 5% in 2014 to 40% in 2023.
She said this increased the risks of water-borne diseases and shows that the municipal water and sanitation services have deteriorated over the last 10 years.
Water quality deteriorating
“The 2022 Green Drop Report found that 40% of waste water treatment systems were in a critical state of performance, compared to 30% in 2013. It also found that 90 of the 144 water services authorities had at least one critical wastewater system.
“Dysfunctional municipal wastewater systems are resulting in pollution of communities, rivers, and the environment, resulting in intolerable living conditions and increased risk of life-threatening diseases such as cholera. It is also resulting in damage to tourism and services industries,” said Majodina.
The minister said the water that is pumped and then unaccounted for has increased from 37% in 2014 to 47% in 2023 as per the No Drop report.
This, according to Majodina, is caused by the illegal connections, weak municipal billing and revenue collection system, and increased leaks in municipal distribution systems.
She said the leaks in municipal distribution systems meant that money spent on dams and water treatment works is wasted.
“To assist municipalities to implement this responsibility, national government provides municipalities with grants to address backlogs in access, most of which were inherited from apartheid.
“These grants include the Municipal Infrastructure Grant, which is allocated to municipalities by COGTA [Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs], the Human Settlements Development Grant, which is allocated to metropolitan municipalities by DHS, and the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant and Water Services Infrastructure Grant, which are allocated to non-metropolitan municipalities by DWS [Department of Water and Sanitation],” she said.
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