Prevent “Day Zero” in Gauteng leak by leak, demands AfriForum with a new water campaign

AfriForum today kicks off a campaign that will force municipalities in Gauteng to comply with the 72-hour deadline for the repair of water leaks as the Minister of Water and Sanitation (DWS), Pemmy Majodina, recently recommended. An interactive platform (www.waterkrisis.co.za) on which residents of this province can report water leaks and through which the responsible municipalities’ recovery rate will be monitored, was also launched today. This campaign is aimed at averting the imminent “Day Zero” in the province and reducing the loss of drinking water due to leaks – which in Gauteng is currently estimated at approximately 33%.

The civil rights organisation maintains that the time has already come for municipalities to do their part to prevent the loss of this precious resource.

Minister Majodina said last week, during a session of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation, that municipalities have no excuse for not repairing leaks within 72 hours. AfriForum agrees with her that the speedy repair of water leaks is a step in the right direction to face the water crisis in Gauteng in particular.

Today, as part of the launch of this platform, AfriForum put up 38 posters as markers of existing water leaks all over Gauteng. The AfriForum branches in Gauteng will continue to report leaks and put up posters in the coming weeks. These markers also serve as a visible tool to make it even easier for municipalities to see exactly where the leak is that needs to be repaired. The public is encouraged not only to report leaks electronically on AfriForum’s Water Crisis platform but also to put up the markers as a form of silent protest against municipalities’ failure to repair leaks in a timely manner. The downloadable poster design is available on the Water Crisis platform.

All leaks that are reported on AfriForum’s platform will automatically also be reported to the relevant municipality. The public simply needs to complete an online form detailing the location (physical address or GPS coordinates) of the leak. Photos can also be attached as proof of the leak. Registration on AfriForum’s platform will enable the civil rights organisation to monitor municipalities’ repairing of leaks.

“We want to see that municipalities comply with Minister Majodina’s order to repair water leaks within 72 hours. The current losses are enormous and can be limited, but for that the municipalities’ commitment is essential,” emphasises Lambert de Klerk, AfriForum’s manager for Environmental Affairs.

De Klerk also believes that the level 1 water restrictions that the Gauteng Premier, Panyaza Lesufi, announced for Gauteng yesterday amount to a punitive measure for end consumers due to the laxity of municipalities in averting the water crisis. “In the meantime, these very residents, who now have to comply with strict water restrictions, have to watch how drinking water runs freely through the streets or pools in fields for weeks or even months, while municipalities just shrug and refuse to stop the waste,” says De Klerk.

According to De Klerk, Lesufi’s recommendation that Rand Water come up with solutions for the water crisis in Gauteng emphasises the fact that the Premier is not prepared to take control of the municipalities that fall under him and is, therefore, trying to sidestep his responsibility towards the province’s residents.

“The onus cannot rest on Rand Water to find solutions for water losses. It is the responsibility of the municipalities to maintain infrastructure and take immediate action when water leaks are reported. Rand Water can make suggestions, but those suggestions are worthless if the municipalities do not implement them.”

According to AfriForum, it is indeed important that Gautengers should generally use water more sparingly but emphasises that the lack of infrastructure maintenance is the real and much more urgent problem.

Inhabitants of Gauteng can now report water leakages at www.waterkrisis.co.za.