Water and sanitation minister Pemmy Majodina has called on mining companies to partner with government to help address South Africa’s deepening water crisis, saying some of the country’s biggest water users must step up to support struggling municipalities.
Majodina was speaking at a media briefing on Wednesday alongside deputy minister David Mahlobo, Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi and Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero.
“I’m from Mining Indaba, where I raised issues of water to say the mining houses are using a lot of water, but when they [stop] mining, they don’t bring back the water,” Majodina said.
She warned that abandoned mining sites often fuel illegal mining activities that further strain already limited water resources.
“When they use that water, they don’t pay anywhere and they make communities not to have water. I’ve made an appeal to all the mining houses, especially here in Gauteng, to say they must partner with all our municipalities,” she said.
Majodina cited a recent project in the North West as the kind of collaboration government wants to see replicated nationwide.
We are going to combine our report as a delegation sent by the president here, but we must not thumb-suck about the challenges and the amount that is needed
— Pemmy Majodina, water and sanitation minister
“A month ago I was in North West, where we met with Glencore and other mining houses. We were building or connecting a 37km water pipeline. They came in at 50/50%. So that is what we want in South Africa.
“Let’s work smart. Those who are the biggest consumers of water must come and assist government. Come and assist your municipalities to be able to deliver water.”
Majodina stopped short of committing to additional funding for Gauteng.
“We cannot now, myself and Mahlobo, commit to whether there will be an extra budget allocated to Gauteng to assist municipalities. The budget vote is on the 25th.”
She reiterated the scale of the crisis facing local government infrastructure.
“I once said in one of the media briefings, in terms of infrastructure at local government sphere, we need nothing less than R400bn to fix the water infrastructure. Surely we don’t have that amount in the fiscus. How do we then work with other people?”
The government will consolidate its findings before announcing further steps, she added.
“We are going to combine our report as a delegation sent by the president here, but we must not thumb-suck about the challenges and the amount that is needed.”
Joburg not facing ‘Day Zero’: Morero
The remarks come as frustration mounts in parts of Johannesburg over prolonged water outages.
On Wednesday morning, Parktown West residents took to the streets along Jan Smuts Avenue to protest what they described as poor service delivery after more than 20 days without water.
Residents say they have spent thousands on private water tankers to fill Jojo tanks.
This follows a statement from Johannesburg Water apologising for disruptions after a staff picket allegedly left several areas without supply.
Midrand and other parts of the city have also been badly affected by outages, prompting the city to construct a new reservoir to boost supply.
Earlier in the day, Morero assured residents that Johannesburg is not facing a “Day Zero” scenario.
“High consumption in certain areas affects system stability. We are engaging with regions to encourage responsible water use to support system recovery and improve reliability,” said Morero.
Johannesburg Water has embarked on initiatives to reduce demand through pressure management and to improve infrastructure through increased investment, including a pipe replacement programme
— Ntshavheni Mukwevho, Joburg Water MD
Johannesburg Water managing director Ntshavheni Mukwevho said the entity has implemented measures to stabilise supply.
“Johannesburg Water has embarked on initiatives to reduce demand through pressure management and to improve infrastructure through increased investment, including a pipe replacement programme,” she said.
Senior manager of operations at Joburg Water, Randir Singh, said efforts to stabilise the Commando system are under way. “These include ensuring that the system is fully pressurised to enable a reliable water supply to reach all areas affected within the system,” he said.
Morero said a major recent disruption was triggered by a power outage on January 26, which caused a leak and power failure at the Zuikerbosch water treatment plant, followed by a burst pipe.
The incident affected one of the largest reservoirs supplying parts of Johannesburg and Tshwane, leaving some residents without water for up to six days.
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