South Africa’s water infrastructure and quality are in crisis, while mismanagement and criminal syndicates stall improvements and sabotage critical pipelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Department of Water and Sanitation’s latest Blue Drop Watch Report found that half of South Africa’s drinking water is of poor quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the report, the biggest issue with water in the country is drinking water quality, with only 38% and 11% of systems achieving excellent and good microbiological quality, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to ENCA<\/a>, Mike Muller, a professor and civil engineer at the Wits School of Governance, said that poor management is the leading cause of failing water infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “You can have good infrastructure, but if you do not have good management, you will get nothing out of it,” said Muller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Approximately 3 million kilolitres of potable water are lost daily in South Africa due to inadequate infrastructure and leaks. This results in an annual cost of R250 million for the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Antony Turton from the Centre for Environmental Management at the University of the Free State added <\/a>that the water crisis is similar to the electricity failings, where rampant crime, vandalism, and mismanagement take their toll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Turton said that criminality is deeply embedded in the water management systems. He said that there are criminals that are now targeting sewage systems and then applying for a tender to install an emergency pump to bypass the problem they create<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said there is a revolving door of copper theft and selling, with many criminals stripping key water infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Crime and mismanagement ultimately lead to a handful of municipalities not getting a reliable water supply, with many falling victim to not water not because of a lack of water but a lack of pressure, said Turton. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He added that in South Africa, people get roughly five to six days a month of sufficient water volume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a patchworked approach to fixing water infrastructure whereby no engineers are consulted, and workers are having to revisit a site multiple times to fix a problem that was already addressed, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Muller said that governments need to take into account the thoughts and plans of experienced senior engineers as well as newly qualified people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Talk of poor water quality was shoved into the spotlight as a cholera outbreak occurred in Hammanskraal, Gauteng, and in the Free State, leading to many deaths. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Following the outbreak, President Cyril Ramaphosa attempted to put South Africans at ease, citing the government\u2019s Water Research Commission data that showed South African water being of a high standard and \u201ccompares well with the best in the world\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The same data, however, proves the opposite<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Muller said that if people are concerned about the quality of their drinking water, the best thing to do is to boil it before they consume it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added that putting a little bit of chlorine in water that will be used for general purposes – not consumption<\/strong> – could kill the germs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fixing water infrastructure is not an affordable feat for South Africa. For example, on 22 June<\/a> this year, the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) applied for billions of dollars to fix the water and electricity, among other things, in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A national water plan released in 2019 showed that R900 billion ($49 billion) needs to be spent on water supply and storage infrastructure by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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