Cabinet has, according to Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, noted existing water supply disruptions in Gauteng and in some Free State municipalities that are not related to the Lesotho Highlands tunnel closure.
“We further noted that the DWS [Department of Water and Sanitation] has supported municipalities to engage stakeholders in relation to the closure of the Lesotho Highlands tunnel,” the Minister said.
She was addressing the media on Friday, regarding the outcomes of the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.
“Cabinet further noted that in Gauteng, rapid population growth, lack of infrastructure maintenance, lack of enforcement of by-laws and delays in the implementation of phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands project have contributed immensely to the current water disruptions.
“However, the completion of phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands project will bring relief if supplemented by water demand management interventions, use of new water-saving technologies and proper maintenance of infrastructure.”
Cabinet had at its ordinary meeting this week been briefed on the closure of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project’s tunnel for planned maintenance from 1 October 2024 to 31 March 2025.
The Minister said Cabinet believed the planned maintenance work was crucial to protect the infrastructure for another 20 to 30 years and failure to undertake this work would risk the transfer of water to the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS), which provides the water supplied by Rand Water to its customers and all municipalities in Gauteng.
The Minister said a thorough analysis to assess the risk to the performance of the IVRS, which consists of 14 interconnected dams, have since been undertaken by the DWS.
“The analysis confirmed that the impact of the tunnel closure on the overall IVRS will be minimal as most dams in the IVRS are currently full.”
Meanwhile, she said the Cabinet noted the department had been holding readiness meetings with Free State municipalities which receive water from the Liebenbergsvlei River since 2022.
The purpose of these meetings is to mitigate the risks of service interruptions during tunnel maintenance.
“However, delays by municipalities to upgrade and/or refurbish their infrastructure remains a challenge. Cabinet noted that the DWS will monitor and where necessary, intervene to support these municipalities.”
Water restrictions in Gauteng
Shifting her focus to the implementation of level 1 water restrictions in Gauteng, she explained that this was a result of Rand Water reaching its maximum water output on the IVRS.
“Water demand in Gauteng continues to grow because of population growth, increase in non-revenue water in municipal systems, including illegal and unbilled connections, and lack of maintenance resulting in huge water leaks, which are at 33% average across Gauteng municipalities.”
Currently, Ntshavheni said, the peak demand for water from Rand Water’s municipal customers is close to and occasionally exceeds the supply available from its treatment plants and storage reservoirs.
“To avert greater restrictions Gauteng municipalities must prioritise reducing water leaks in their water distribution systems and enforce water-use restrictions.”
Ntshavheni announced that the DWS, Rand Water and Gauteng municipalities are partnering with the World Bank 2020 Water Resources Group to implement a mass awareness and communications campaign on using water sparingly, in collaboration with civil society and business leaders. – SAnews.gov.za
