The Gauteng water crisis is a self-inflicted leadership failure
23 October 2024
The Democratic Alliance (DA) agrees with the admission by Minister Pemmy Majodina in the Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation last night, that the current water crisis in Gauteng is indeed “self-inflicted” by the municipalities. Minister Majodina’s remarks reaffirm what the DA has long maintained: the water shortages in Gauteng are a result of poor governance, not natural causes.
The crisis is not due to drought but rather due to the failure of municipalities to perform basic maintenance and address the rampant water losses from leaks, illegal connections, and poor financial management. This mismanagement has left Gauteng residents without reliable access to water, despite Rand Water providing adequate supply.
The DA echoes the frustration with the Gauteng leadership and highlights key points raised by Rand Water:
Municipalities such as Emfuleni, Merafong, and Rand West owe billions of rands to Rand Water, and yet there has been no meaningful attempt to settle these debts or fix the infrastructure that causes water wastage; and