Mchunu urges measures to ‘completely address’ Joburg water crisis
The Department of Water and Sanitation met with officials from the City of Johannesburg to discuss the ongoing water supply crisis in the metro on Tuesday.
On Monday, Joburg Water urged residents to use the resource sparingly as areas in the southern parts of the city continue to experience water shortages.
One of the main problems plaguing the city is the amount of water being lost due to poor infrastructure, with Joburg losing 46.1% of the water supplied by Rand Water.
The Deputy Director-General for Water and Sanitation Services Management, Dr Risimati Mathye, said other issues include an increase in the frequency of water main bursts, a reduction to water storage capacity due to leaking and isolation of reservoirs, and water theft through illegal connections in informal settlements.
"The persistent water supply challenges in Johannesburg are of great concern, and they negatively reflect on all of us in the sector and therefore require us to continue engaging on measures to completely address them,” added Minister of Water and Sanitation Senzo Mchunu.
"The projects required are seemingly easily identifiable, but there are funding constraints that we need to address and resolve.”
The team is set to meet again on 18 March.
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