Government’s sluggishness worsens the water crisis in Gauteng: Mdwaba

The United Democratic Movement (UDM) Premier candidate, Mthunzi Mdwaba, said the lack of a viable solution to South Africa’s escalating water crisis was more apparent than ever.

Mdwaba expressed his grave concerns over what he said was the current City of Johannesburg’s failure to uphold the constitutional right to safe drinking water.

“Years of inadequate foresight and strategic planning have left the nation ill-prepared to handle the water scarcity issues we face today.

“With a damning report released earlier this year highlighting the severity of the crisis, the response from the government has been lacklustre and reactive.

“Given the current administration’s track record, it’s evident that a new approach is desperately needed,” he said.

The premier candidate attributed these failures to government’s delayed and inadequate responses, especially following recent statements by Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation David Mahlobo, which he said only highlighted the urgency without offering substantive action plans.

“With Johannesburg being only second to Durban in terms of water leakages, at over 48%, all the citizen services issues, similarly to electricity load shedding and potholes on the roads, amongst others, point to a failure of management, leadership and maintenance and upkeep of the infrastructure. The longer it is left unattended, the more ruinous it gets.

“Due to population growth, a Departmental study has shown that water demand will significantly outpace supply over the next two decades, predicting a 17% supply deficit by 2030. This alarming trend underscores the necessity for a complete overhaul of the nation’s water management strategies,” he added.

Mdwaba said his organisation was calling for more robust, proactive measures to address this crisis head-on, adding that would include significant investment in infrastructure, adoption of modern technologies for water management, and a strategic partnership with global experts to integrate successful practices from around the world.

“The UDM demands immediate action to review and restructure South Africa’s water management policies. This critical situation requires not just national attention but immediate and comprehensive policy action to ensure the sustainability of our water resources and the safety of our communities,” said the premier candidate.

On Thursday, the ActionSA leader in Gauteng, Funzi Ngobeni, said that the looming national water crisis required a co-ordinated approach to mend the municipal water infrastructure.

Ngobeni said the country’s water network would not be able to withstand increasingly serious droughts and dry weather patterns as long as municipalities were losing between 45%-55% of their water to an increasing number of pipe bursts and leaks in the ageing pipe network.

“ActionSA in government, following these elections, will embark on the following measures to address the water crisis: address the capacity crisis within the Department of Water and Sanitation by filling critical vacancies of engineers and project managers to oversee; and also repair and expand water infrastructure.

“ActionSA will improve water-related service delivery by effectively managing South Africa’s water infrastructure. We will collect data on the state of South Africa’s water infrastructure and implement a national strategic maintenance plan to address any risks to South Africa’s water supply,” he concluded.

Saturday Star

sipho.jack@inl.co.za