Armed gangs, ageing pipes and tanker costs strain Joburg water system, commission hears

The City of Johannesburg says ageing infrastructure, criminal attacks on water facilities and the rising cost of water tankers are placing huge pressure on the municipality’s ability to supply water to residents.

Managing director for Johannesburg Water, Ntshavheni Mukwevho, told the South African Human Rights Commission’s (SAHRC) hearings that criminal syndicates are targeting the city’s water infrastructure.

The commission is investigating whether the ongoing water supply challenges in Gauteng amount to a violation of human rights of residents.

Mukwevho said armed criminals had attacked the Olifantsvlei wastewater treatment plant and stripped parts of the infrastructure, forcing the water utility to increase security and deploy armoured vehicles at some of its facilities.

Mukwevho also told the inquiry, which is in its third day, that the entity spends close to R130m on water tankers, mainly to assist informal settlements and communities affected by unplanned outages.

According to Mukwevho, most tanker services are directed at informal settlements where residents still face unreliable access to running water.

He said that relying on tankers could not continue forever and that Johannesburg Water was looking at other options, including drilling boreholes in informal settlements to reduce dependence on emergency water supply systems.

The inquiry heard that Johannesburg Water plans to fully take over its tanker operations instead of relying on private contractors.

Mukwevho said the utility had already bought 20 branded water tankers and ordered another 20 which are expected to arrive before the end of the financial year.

Mukwevho also admitted that the city would still need outside service providers for at least another year.

“My view is that it should take us another 12 to 18 months to fully remove water service providers,” he said.

Meanwhile, Rand Water CEO Sipho Mosai told the inquiry that municipalities are usually informed at least 21 days before planned maintenance work starts so they can prepare communities and put contingency measures in place.

Mosai explained that some high-lying areas often take longer to recover after maintenance.

Mosai said municipalities collectively owe Rand Water about R9bn, with Emfuleni municipality alone owing nearly R1.9bn.

The commission also heard complaints from residents in Orange Farm and Phumlamqashi in the south of Lenasia, who told the inquiry about their daily struggles pertaining to water supply issues. Residents who attended the inquiry claimed they had gone without water for several months.

Mukwevho, however, dismissed the claim and denied that residents had been completely without water. He said illegal connections in informal settlements often overload communal standpipe systems, leading to water outages.

“The challenge with communal standpipes is that communities end up installing illegal connections so that they can have water directly in their own yards, and that causes problems,” Mukwevho said.

Residents also accused some tanker operators of charging people for water that should be free.

Community members told the commission that residents who could pay allegedly received water first, while some tankers only arrived late at night, creating safety concerns for women and children.

Mukwevho said they had received reports of the alleged sale of water and that investigations were underway.

“There were two incidents that we have registered, one in the eastern part of the city and another in the western part of the city, and those incidents are still under investigation,” he said.

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