In an unexpected move by former president Thabo Mbeki four years ago, he apologised for what he knew he could have acted on earlier, but didn’t. It was at the time when the term “load shedding” became fashionable because it was dawning on everyone, including Mbeki, that the country was heading for darkness. Mbeki gathered his strength and owned up: “When Eskom said to the government: ‘We think we must invest more in terms of electricity generation,’ we said, “No, but all you will be doing is just to build excess capacity.” We said not now, later. We were wrong. Eskom was right. We were wrong.”
He was conceding to the fact that Eskom senior officials warned him and other government officials a few years earlier to invest in electricity infrastructure to keep up with demand emanating from the country’s economic growth. Eskom managers had warned him that unless something is done, the country will have rolling blackouts by 2010. And it happened … we experienced the worst power cuts in years, forcing Eskom to start rationing electricity.
A similar situation unfolding in the country now. This time it is water that’s under threat.
On Monday the water affairs department had a press conference in Cape Town to talk about the water needs of the country and how the backlog can be avoided. The department said water infrastructure is in trouble and it will need R573-billion to deal with the problem and meet the country’s growing demand for water.
Failure to do so will lead to disaster, though Minister Edna Molewa didn’t say so in so many words. She said there’s a ”significant shortfall” that needs to be addressed. The money needed will include about R394-billion for water services, R162-billion for water resources infrastructure and R16-billion for water demand management. “If you look at the current budget allocations (for all departmental, municipal and water board infrastructure and services requirements)… our 10-year projection is that 44 percent is budgeted for. You’ve got a gap of 56 percent,” Trevor Balzer, an official at the department told reporters.
Although Molewa has identified the problem, she doesn’t seem to be urgently addressing it, only agreeing that “a lot of money” is needed. She is still “in discussion” with government to figure out how to address the shortfall without making holes in too many pockets.
But the truth is this problem was identified a long time ago and, again, was denied by our government. Signs have always been there.
Many will remember when the country faced one of its biggest health threats ever in 2000. A cholera epidemic swept through the country, leaving at least 265 people dead and infecting 117 147 people in five provinces. This was mostly due to the problem with our water systems, as a result of lack of maintenance.
But in 2008, then water affairs minister Lindiwe Benedicta Hendricks told lawmakers and the country that South Africa was NOT facing any water crisis.
I wonder where Hendricks is now. Wherever she is, she won’t be missed. And like many before her, she won’t be answering for these problems – in fact, she thought we didn’t have any. Did she really ignore the many reports about the water dangers we were heading for from experts and even opposition parties in government? The UN Economic Commission for Africa report in 1999 characterised South Africa as a water-stressed country and predicted that with the water use behaviour and the economic growth parameters at the time, “South Africa would be a water scarce country by 2025″.
Another report by the Water Research Commission (WRC) said taps were running dry, with the total water availability in South Africa in 2002 at 13.209 billion cubic metres per annum, and the demand then already at 13.084 billion cubic metres per annum. “It is quite likely that without infrastructure development and renewal, combined with a radical change in water use behavior, we will indeed reach a state of hardship,” the WRC said.
In 2004, an area in Meyerdale, south of Johannesburg, was nearly completely washed away after a huge pipe owned by Rand Water burst. And investigation called by Dr Simo Lushaba, then Rand Water chief executive, found that this was caused by, among other problems, ageing infrastructure and lack of proper maintenance of the pipelines. The report found that routine maintenance was never done on the pipeline which was over 40 years old. This led to the steel pipe ripping open in the middle of the night and about 80-million litres of water surging through the houses and shacks on July 5 2004.
This is but one example. I am sure there have been many others in the past and many more still to come in the future if nothing is done.
Yes, there are many factors that play into this. Obviously, after the overdue death of apartheid, our government was under tremendous pressure to expand water and sewerage infrastructure to previously disadvantaged areas. And as the Democratic Alliance rightfully pointed out, “the political pressure to deliver” led to our government ignoring warnings about the consequences of “rolling out new water projects without setting aside enough money to maintain the existing facilities”.
The DA (which can be difficult to believe at times, but I did believe them on this issue) in 2008 was complaining about the R1-billion that was allocated by government instead of the R180-billion that was needed then for a complete overhaul of the water system.
The failure of government to act then will now cost tax payers almost three times that amount – R573-billion. And government is looking at us, consumers, to fund this through above-inflation tarrifs that will be imposed soon.
“It goes without saying that the cost is likely to be very high. And therefore the charges that have to be paid [by consumers[ may also be high," Molewa said.
I wonder what happened to the government's free litres of water programme, but that's a topic for another day. I think the WRC's CEO Dhesigen Naidoo was right when he suggested this week that the tarrifs, when they happen, should hit those who misuse water and the rich. He suggested a tariff structure that "[escalates] with the larger burden on the less efficient and excessive users and providing relief for the more water wise users and the poor”, and that will be linked to “water infrastructure development as an investment in the next generation”. May I add that government officials need to be trained in water management skills, and municipalities in particular need to adequately keep their water systems maintained at all times.
It’s 18 years since the dawn of democracy in South Africa and we can no longer blame apartheid for things like our water woes. We have learnt our lessons and I hope President Zuma has learnt from the disasters of electricity outages. Unlike electricity, water is a precious resource that needs to be taken care of. Failure to do so will lead to all sorts of diseases, and death.
The water problem is real, but it’s far from clear that the government is really addressing it.
For one thing, contrary to what Mr. Mangena quotes the DA as saying, the problem isn’t the provision of new water projects, and the DA should be ashamed of making that claim. The principal problem is a) the immense use of water by industry (and the fact that we want more power plants and mines which are massive water users) and b) the lack of maintenance in old urban water infrastructure which promotes considerable water wastage.
If the large amount of money set aside for water infrastructure is to be used to replace that urban water infrastructure, that will help a little, but it won’t solve the industrial water problem. Possibly the next phase of the Lesotho Highlands Project will help Gauteng, but the rest of us don’t benefit from that.
What particularly worries me, however, is that I don’t see this government taking any effective action. I’m scared some Zuma crony will end up asset-stripping the municipalities and we’ll end up like Harare or Accra, with water for a few hours every third day.
If the predicted drought occurs in the 2012/13 rainy season, Gauteng will suffer levels of water stress previously unknown as the Vaal catchment becomes increasingly polluted and no action is taken either to clean the river or charge the polluters. Already this year it has suffered an algae bloom rendering the water highly toxic.
We are in crisis and have been for years. The infrastructure is finished, no-one knows how to run a waste water treatment plant effectively in most of our municipalities and they and the government are quite happy for entire communities to live in sewerage.
Creator: “For one thing, contrary to what Mr. Mangena quotes the DA as saying, the problem isn’t the provision of new water projects, …………………
The principal problem is a) the immense use of water by industry……….. and b) the lack of maintenance in old urban water infrastructure which promotes considerable water wastage.”
Seems to me two ends of the same problem: projected water shortage!!
Solution?? (1) new water projects to supply to the increasing demand or (2) reduce the demand by rationing the water supply to industry and fix old urban reticulation systems.
Why should the DA be ashamed of suggesting solution (1)???????
Your sugestions??? reduce or stop water supply to industries (mines) and power generators? Think of the predicted water requirements for fracking the Karoo? Think of potential load shedding?? Think of economic impact in general, let alone employment if you restrict water useage for industry..
Old urban reticulation systems: City dwellers have a bath once a week, flush toilets once a day??
In the political sphere: the ANC has more to answer for than the DA should ashamed of.
@Creator, the water problem in SA can’t be solved by SA alone because SA doesn’t get enough rainfall to support a growing population and her development. Africa is a continent that might be blessed with natural resources but, the gods didn’t give them a lot of water. The only country that get a lot of water is the Congo and this country could be exporting water to other parts of Africa like they do with oil. Another thing SA/Africa could do that might help, is to seed the clouds to try to increase the rainfall.
The issue that should be on top of the AU agenda is the water shortage in Africa and not what’s going on in countries that they have no control over. The water shortage is affecting the food supply in Africa and this doesn’t sound too good for Africa’s growing population. The author is on the money with this article because man can’t live without water and this problem should be addressed by SA/Africa.
This is worrying. I had to do without electricity for nearly a week after a major sub-station fire. That was tough but you can make a plan, showers at friends etc. But when you have to go to the toilet sometimes you do not have time to get to a friends house; and you HAVE to flush.
Having said this, I am thankful that I do have a toilet to use for now.
Creator, go and Google water use. Farmers use about 60%, not industry. I hope you are not writing with your mouth full.
Does anyone quite realize how much R500 billion is? There are probably only 10 million households in this country. We are talking about an arms deal every year for the next ten years. And this is on top of R1 trillion for electricity. Add the two figures together and divide by the number of households. That is R150 000 per household on average, on top of existing commitments.
In other words an EXTRA R1500 per month per household for the next ten years excluding interest and inflation. (and a side deal here and there)
Maybe we should be welcoming foreigners to assist us with our fiscal commitments instead of looting their shops and treating them with disdain at home affairs.
At pre-school, we used to use a silly statement I’ve papraphrased here: Maintenance is a very long word and the ANC cannot spell ‘it’.
Great column; it’s good to see critical analysis of our woes coming from our ‘Isaacs’. Only a pity it reaches more of the converted on TL than those who don’t yet understand the need for conversion…or in this case, our need for clean water.
In Durban, parked vehicles are quietly subsiding into great holes caused by water erosion in the older suburbs necessitating expensive repairs. Most of the roads and pavements have already undergone several excavations for cable replacement: telephone, electricity and ADSL, but not for water. Our municipality depends on dropping water pressure to curb water wastage.
However, the new expenses must divert budget from newer areas and expensive stadium and beachfront lighting debt, to plug those holes, which leaves the municipality again at a complete loss the following year. Municipal managers clearly don’t understand what maintenance is all about and I dread to think what state their own homes are in.
We all do the ‘but this is what I pay my rates for’ act and are told we’re selfish, but there really is no other way to splutter non-personal invective. If only each department would start employing one consultant to show it how to work out a budget properly and employ those workers it needs to run a workshop with maintenance staff…
…It could save itself a fortune if it could but strike the hordes of ‘digging consultants’ off its books.
Most of you commenting on this subject of water shortage in SA missed the point that SA like the rest of Africa doesn’t get enough rain. The only country that has an abundance of rain are the countries in central Africa.. The Sahara is going to claim most of west Africa and the horns of Africa will be fighting over the Nile river for water. The long term answer lies in the southern Africa communities setup a program to import water from central Africa. This is what the government did in southern California to help the farmers and allow the people to live there.
@Sterling: “Most of you commenting on this subject of water shortage in SA missed the point that SA like the rest of Africa doesn’t get enough rain. ”
A little harsh on all the comments. Many respond from their own immediate experiences.
When is our governement going to start “water” negotiations with Congo?
How do we get that water here?? Truck? Channels?
Who is going to pay and how much??
I heard this morning that the EToll systems in Gauteng must be paid for because the
State Pension fund has heavily invested in it. The statement was: “if Sanral sinks, the state pension fund will sink.
@Benzo, I wasn’t trying to be harsh but, shocking. The problem with the water shortage in SA/Africa is a serious one especially, with the growing population in Africa. You asked the question how will this water be transported? The same way oil is shipped out of Africa through pipelines. Water in California is shipped by pipes from the Colorado river to California and the people have to pay for this water. If the people can find money to drink and drug they can find money to pay for their water. As far as the Tolls on the roads are concerned, if you want to ride on decent roads. they have to be paid for by the motorists. If one takes the road from New York City to Washington,DC, one will pay $40 in tolls and the roads are well maintained.
Moreover, another way SA can pay for their water from central Africa is by growing food and shipping it to central Africa. The north Eastern part of the US get circus fruits from California in the winter time. This would be an African solution to an African problem.
SAICE Water Engineering Division has been aware of the Water Crisis for some time now (2008-) and constantly has volunteers applying their minds. Specific local problems can be sent to [email protected].