Gauteng towns risk being the next Cape Town if water wastage is not addressed: FF Plus

Gauteng towns will soon follow in the footsteps of Cape Town if municipalities in the province do not stop their senseless wasting of water.

This is according to Philip van Staden‚ Freedom Front Plus MPL for Gauteng‚ after a meeting of the local government committee in the Gauteng Legislature on Tuesday.

Van Staden said that the Rand West Municipality‚ Merafong Municipality and Mogale City were the biggest culprits in the province‚ with water losses of 65%‚ 50% and 44% respectively.

He said Johannesburg (44%)‚ Emfuleni (32%)‚ Ekurhuleni (30.1%)‚ Midvaal (28%)‚ Lesedi (22%) and Tshwane (20%) were also contributing to the province’s water losses.

He said this brought the total percentage of water loss for Gauteng municipalities to 36%‚ while the national figure was 36.7%.

“The way that Gauteng municipalities manage water is a concern for the FF Plus and during this morning’s meeting‚ the party warned that if attention is not urgently paid to saving water and the upkeep of water infrastructure‚ then Gauteng will soon be in the same kind of trouble as Cape Town‚ just on a much larger scale‚” Van Staden said.

He said the causes for water losses in Gauteng included theft and vandalism of infrastructure‚ non-payment‚ faulty water meters‚ water leakages‚ burst pipes‚ leaking reservoirs‚ theft of water which includes illegal connections‚ households wasting water and poor maintenance and old infrastructure

“The FF Plus is of the opinion that there is no political will in Gauteng to address the urgent issue and that residents will have to start making their own plans for the future by sinking boreholes and collecting rainwater for household use.

He said millions of people live and work in Gauteng and every year nearly 250‚000 more people come to the province.

“During this morning’s committee meeting‚ it became apparent that the department is only now starting to realise how serious the problem really is‚” Van Staden said.