Billions needed to sort water crisis

To eradicate the City of Johannesburg’s water crisis, an investment of about R7 billion is needed to fix roughly 2 600km of infrastructure, mayor Dada Morero said this week. Morero has faced mounting criticism as the months-long crisispushes residents to the edge. In hisState of the Nation address(Sona) last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa saidwater, along with crime, had become the single most important issue for many South Africans.

In an interview with theMail & Guardian, Morero laid most of the blame for the Johannesburg water problems on old infrastructure. “The key issue is the pipes. The pipes underground are asbestos pipes that can no longer be repaired — they are finished.

“In the CBD, it is the steel pipes which have also rusted and need to be replaced,” he said, noting that the city has about 12 600km of water network infrastructure and almost the same length for the sewer network. Johannesburg loses vast amounts of water through leaks and revenue through meter bypassing. Officials have also said heavy migration to the city from other parts of South Africa have added strain to supply.

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Heatwaves that tended to hit the city, particularly in summer, also fuelled overconsumption, they said. Asked how the city would raise the money for water infrastructure, Morero said it would look to refinance some of the revenue generated from the resource, adding: “There are grants from the national treasury and entity reforms to secure additional funding.” The city was focused on reducing water losses through leaks, with about 2 600km of pipes requiring urgent attention, he said. “What we require is about R7bn, and around R6bn for sewer infrastructure. With a R13bn investment, once we reduce our losses — even by 10% — we will save about R300 million annually, which is a good saving that can be reinvested into infrastructure,” he said.

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