Issued by Cllr Nicole van Dyk – DA Johannesburg Shadow MMC for Infrastructure
The Democratic Alliance (DA) In Johannesburg welcomes the commitment by Executive Mayor, Dada Morero, to grant Johannesburg Water an extra R1 billion Capital Expenditure budget in the next budget cycle.
This, however, leaves little room for immediate hope for the people of the City of Gold.
Without an immediate, and large scale focus on the solutions the DA has proposed, we will see the water crisis faced by the economic capital of South Africa worsen. The biggest problem faced by Johannesburg, and its water supply is that 46% of all water supplied to the city is lost due to leaks, burst pipes and failing infrastructure.
Combine with that a board at Johannesburg Water filled with cadres, and politically aligned elites, it should come as no surprise, that try as hard they might, the people doing the work at Johannesburg Water cannot fulfill their mandate.
The entity faces a steep challenge.
The first order of business has been announced as decreasing the turnaround time for water pipe leaks and burst repairs to under 48 hours. While this is admirable, Johannesburg Water has indicated that they have only 55% of the necessary vehicles to complete their work. They find themselves in this situation because the executive that Mayor Morero formed a part of, underfunded the entity and filled the board with deployees.
Therefore, we reject the notion that the City is facing a water crisis because of residents’ water consumption habits. The truth is that an ineffective executive sank an effective entity by misaligning their priorities, and ignoring the immediate and long-term needs of our city, and its critical entities.
We appreciate the work being done by Johannesburg Water officials, they are trying to turn around their organization, and remain committed to the city. The executive in the CoJ must be held to account, and they must hold the board of Johannesburg Water to account.
We reiterate our demand that the board be dissolved, and its members be subjected to comprehensive audits. A technical entity needs technical experts, not political elites running the show.
