SA risks running out of water by 2030, plan warns

If SA does not get smart about policy, the country faces the bleak reality of running out of water by 2030. But, notes Legalbrief, a master plan offers solutions, delineating a clear role for business and civil society. There must be a complete change in mindset about the true value of water and a R899bn investment into the sector every year for the next decade. According to a News24 report, this is a central message in the draft National Water and Sanitation Master Plan that outlines the dire state of the country's water and sanitation sector, and lays out a turnaround strategy to avoid the country's demand for water outstripping supply in 12 years. The change in mindset will have to occur at all levels of government and in business and civil society in order to avoid this stark future. The plan, which has had extensive input from a range of stakeholders, is due to be tabled before Cabinet in May. Two key issues that will become the new normal are that the price of water will increase and water demand will have to be cut significantly. It states: ‘The new reality: water will become more expensive. Everyone, except the indigent, must pay for water and sanitation. Everyone, except those without access to piped water, must use less water.’ Other key issues are providing universal water and sanitation for South Africans, equitable allocation of water resources and effective infrastructure management, operation and maintenance.

The Gauteng Government is to set up a ‘water war room’ by June 2018 to avoid a water crisis in the province, according to a BusinessLIVE report. Premier David Makhura announced the intention at the Premier’s Co-ordinating Forum last month. The forum aims to promote and facilitate relations between the provincial government and municipalities. Water experts at the forum noted that Gauteng used 11% of the country’s water while contributing 38% to the national economy. Makhura said Gauteng’s city region was vulnerable to a water crisis because of its geography, the region’s economy and its population. ‘We need to agree on setting up a water war room that will be made up of representatives from the provincial government and local government. This war room will have political and technical components, which will be used to identify trends and respond to those,’ said Makhura. Professor Mike Muller, one of the experts at the forum, said it was commendable that the premier was taking the initiative to tackle water challenges while the dams supplying the region were full, rather than waiting for a crisis to emerge, as happened in Cape Town. ‘It will be important to do this in a structured way and not to rely on commercial interests to lead the process,’ said Muller.

Capetonians have managed to get water usage down to 522m litres a day over the past week – 43m litres less than the previous week's water usage. A News24 report notes that the City of Cape Town still requires Capetonians to reduce collective usage to 450m litres a day or 50l per person per day. ‘We need to achieve this target in order to stretch the available water supplies through the rest of the year,’ Deputy Mayor Ian Neilson is quoted in the report as saying. ‘The more water we use, the faster our dam levels decline. In the past week, dam levels have fallen by 0.5% to 22.2%, despite the rain that was received, primarily on March 24.’ The city is still planning to implement several water-saving measures because it is difficult to estimate the amount of rainfall Cape Town will receive in winter. ‘Water management devices continue to be installed on the connections of high water users and teams are working around the clock to detect and repair leaks,’ said Neilson. ‘Level 6B water restrictions remain in place, and consumers are receiving bills based on Level 6 tariffs. This means that the more water that residents use, the more they will pay.’

Nelson Mandela Bay residents are drowning in debt due to the extra charges on their bills since water restrictions were imposed. A report in The Herald notes that shocking figures released by the municipality last week revealed that since the implementation of Part C of the water tariffs structure in June, the outstanding debt for water had risen by R272.1m. The total amount owed by residents and businesses for water was sitting at a staggering R746.8m last month. Adding to its money woes, the latest water loss figures for the city show that its strategies to cut down on wastage are not working. Between July last year and January this year, 44.3% of the city’s water was lost through leaks and unbilled water. The loss in monetary terms is about R26.52m. The municipality’s political head of budget and treasury, Retief Odendaal, said the figure was high because it included the three-month period when staff were on a go-slow due to an impasse over overtime. He said the water loss figure would decrease. The news comes amid a crippling drought which has seen Nelson Mandela Bay’s dam levels drop to a combined average of about 24.79%. The municipality is pinning its hopes on the R97m drought-relief funding it will be receiving from the National Treasury. Acting chief financial officer Jackson Ngcelwane said the issue of water debt would be addressed at the next committee meeting, the report states.

Last week’s rainfall throughout the Eastern Cape has had little impact on its dam levels. A Daily Dispatch report quotes Water and Sanitation spokesperson Sputnik Ratau who warned: ‘This is a clear sign that the province faces serious drought, and dam levels could drop even more due to the changing of seasons.’ Ratau said: ‘According to the water levels report published by the department this week, the Eastern Cape recorded a meagre 0.1% increase, moving from 66.6% last week to 66.7% this week,’ Ratau said. The report showed that the Algoa water supply system, which serves the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, has continued to drop, falling 0.4% from 25.1% to 24.7%. Major dams in the system were also still ‘battling’, Ratau said, with the Impofu dam sitting at 38.5% and the Kouga dam at 10.9%. However, the Amathole water supply system, which serves Buffalo City Metro, was ‘showing some signs of recovery’, said Ratau, with its level rising from 88.9% to 90.4%.