Government allows emergency water-supply boost amid crisis

Government gave the continent’s biggest bulk-water supplier an urgent license to take more water from a key river system that feeds its richest province to help stabilise supplies amid shortages.

Rand Water can extract 200 million cubic metres a year more than its normal allocation from the Vaal River system for four months through June, Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina said in a statement Thursday.

Read: Failing water systems will cost R400bn to fix, says minister

The emergency measures are intended to help municipalities in Gauteng, which houses the economic hub of Johannesburg, rebuild reservoir levels after weeks of supply problems.

Read: SA towns owe water boards R21.3bn – report

The Vaal system “is already constrained and unable to accommodate permanent additional allocations,” Majodina’s department said. “This is not a long-term solution to the water supply challenges being experienced in Gauteng.”

Read: Over R4bn has flowed to dodgy water contracts – SIU

Johannesburg, Africa’s richest city and home to about 4.8 million people, has faced growing water outages due to underinvestment in infrastructure and poor maintenance, prompting protests.

Read: How SA’s Lesotho Highlands Water Project costs ballooned by R45bn

In September, Johannesburg Water said it needs to spend R32.5 billion over the next decade to address the crisis.

In a speech last week, acknowledging that scores of municipalities are dysfunctional and unable to provide basic services, President Cyril Ramaphosa committed R156 billion for water infrastructure and sanitation over the next three years and set up a national water crisis committee that he will chair to tackle the problem.

Read: Rand Water writes off millions as municipalities fail to pay

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