The Democratic Alliance (DA) will write to the Premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane asking her to urgently deal with the issues of old and dilapidated water infrastructure in many municipalities of Mpumalanga.
For several years now, the province’s municipalities have been affected by old and dilapidated water infrastructure which in turn affects the provision of water, as is the case in Lekwa and Thaba Chweu local municipalities.
The DA will write to the Premier asking her to ensure that the 2% which is ringfenced from all of the Department’s budgets for maintenance of existing infrastructure, is used to deal with the issues of old and dilapidated water infrastructure in municipalities.
Having access to a stable water supply plays a pivotal role in our daily lives as it is used for hygiene purposes, for cooking and cleaning and for sanitation.
On the economic side and to name but a few purposes, having a stable access to a water source drives the agricultural sectors, abattoirs, food processing plants and supports heavy industries in our province.
The distribution of water in Mpumalanga is also hampered further by debt which is owed to external entities such as Rand Water. Rand Water in turn implement water throttling and water pressure reductions for outstanding amounts.
In Lekwa, an inability to provide a stable water source by the municipality in turn affected companies such as Astral Foods. In the case of Astral Foods the shortage of water cost the company close to R100 million and threatened the job security of the workers.
In the last few years, the following municipalities experienced water losses through leaks and old dilapidated infrastructure:
-Lekwa local municipality lost 83% of the total water that was purchased in the 2018/19 financial year.
-Thaba Chweu water losses increased from 66% in 2017/18 to 69% in the 2018/19 financial year.
-Dr Pixley Ka Isaka Seme increased from losing 29% of the total water purchased in 2017/18 to 61% in the 2018/19 financial year.
-Albert Luthuli water loss increased from 15% in the 2017/18 financial year to 51% in the 2018/19 financial year.