Urgent R400 billion needed to fix South Africa's water infrastructure, says Minister Majodina
Minister of Water and Sanitation Pemmy Majodina says R400 billion is needed to fix Gauteng’s water infrastructure, urging mining houses to partner with municipalities and assist in delivering water to communities across the province.
Image: Itumeleng English / Independent Newspapers
Minister of Water and Sanitation Pemmy Majodina says R400 billion is needed to fix water infrastructure in municipalities across the country.
Majodina was speaking at a media briefing on Wednesday alongside Deputy Minister David Mahlobo, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, and Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero.
Majodina said neither she nor Deputy Minister Mahlobo could commit to whether Gauteng would receive extra funding to support its municipalities.
“The budget vote is on the 25th. What we are going to do as a delegation led, sent by the President here, we are going to compile our report, but we must not thumb-suck about the challenges and amount that is needed,” she said.
She recalled a previous media briefing, saying, “In terms of water infrastructure at a local government sphere, we need nothing less than R400 billion to fix the water infrastructure, and surely we don’t have that amount in the fiscals. How do we then work with other people?”
Majodina said she had just come from the Africa Mining Indaba, where she raised issues of water usage by mining houses.
“I’m from Mining Indaba, where I raised issues of water to say the mining houses are using a lot of water.
“They are using a lot of water, but when they leave that site in terms of their mining, they don’t bring back the water, and our licence, and that leads to illegal mining, which uses water. And when they use that water, they don’t pay anywhere, and they make communities not to have water,” she said.
Majodina said she had made an appeal to all mining houses, particularly in Gauteng, to partner with municipalities.
“I made an appeal to all the mining houses, especially here in Gauteng, to say they must partner with all our municipalities. And there was a commitment. They said to call us.”
Majodina gave an example from the North West, where government partnered with mining companies.
“A month ago, I was in North West, where we met with Glencore and other mining houses. We were building or connecting a 37-kilometre water pipeline. They came in at 50/50 %. So that is what we want as South Africa.
''Let’s work smart, but those who are the biggest consumers of water, come and assist the government. Come and assist your municipalities to be able to deliver water,” she said.
Johannesburg and Tshwane residents have been struggling with water for several days, some parts for weeks.
During a ministerial oversight visit to Joburg Water Supply on Thursday, Majodina said water was being restored in some parts of Gauteng.
She said the city needs more reservoirs to ensure at least 48 to 72 hours of water storage. “The City of Johannesburg needs about 24 to 25 new water reservoirs. They’ve already started building 19, and the one we visited today is the 20th,'' she said.
Majodina warned that decaying infrastructure and illegal connections remain a concern.
“The financial muscle of the City of Johannesburg is not enough to replace old pipelines. They have made an appeal to the Minister of Finance and Minister of COGTA for support.”
She noted that reinvesting water sales is helping but is insufficient.
“They have also started to reinvest water sales, to reinvest that water sales to the water infrastructure, but even that is not enough because of the long pipeline that the City of Johannesburg has.
''And we are going to support them in engaging the National Treasury to see how far the National Treasury goes. But the President, having established the support on Joburg water with the private sector, we are also going to engage them to see how far we go in terms of ensuring that we prioritise, especially the water pipelines that feed to the reservoirs that are very critical in our metro.”
She added that major reservoir projects are nearly complete. “The Brixton Water Reservoir is 90% ready. Once completed, there will be a lot of relief.
''We urge communities to work with Joburg Water while we restore the system, and to use water sparingly in the meantime. People who are not getting water today will get water tomorrow and in the coming days,” Majodina said.
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