Govt deploys water boards to assist Gauteng, KZN municipalities
The government has deployed water boards to assist the various municipalities struggling with erratic water supply.
This is according to ANC NEC member David Mahlobo, who also serves as the deputy minister of water and sanitation.
He spoke during a media briefing at the party's Luthuli House headquarters in Johannesburg on aspects of the ANC’s election manifesto.
In Gauteng, the department will deploy Rand Water, while the Umngeni-Uthukela water board will be deployed to assist struggling municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal.
Various issues in several municipalities in the two provinces have led to communities experiencing water shortages in recent weeks.
In Johannesburg, thousands have been left without water after a lightning strike hit the Eikenhof pump station.
Rand Water has since urged residents to use water sparingly as the system experiences severe strain that could lead to a total system collapse.
Mahlobo said the anger expressed by communities who are on the receiving end of the water shortages is justified.
"Those of us deployed in government, our ministry, has decided that because these metros are struggling to perform this function, we have agreed to deploy our water boards, and very capable water boards, which is Rand Water for all municipalities in Gauteng working with the three metros and others, except the Johannesburg metro.
“In eThekwini, we have deployed the Umngeni-Uthukela water board to support them," said Mahlobo.
He said technical teams in both provinces are meeting regularly to monitor the systems.
“In all these municipalities, there is one common denominator: the water losses are very high. In Johannesburg, we lose more than 44% of water due to infrastructure challenges. Even the residents can see water running on the streets.
“We have agreed that maintenance teams must respond to these incidents," he said.
Mahlobo added that Johannesburg Water requires at least R27 billion to address the current water supply interruptions.
"They (municipalities) must be transparent, they mustn't run away from communicating with citizens, and they must communicate directly with the citizens.
“If they run away, we don't know when water will come back," said Mahlobo.
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