South Africa’s ongoing water crisis is emblematic of the turmoil at the local government level, with municipalities failing to adequately maintain existing infrastructure and expand supply to meet demand from a growing population.
Water-shedding is becoming a more common term in South Africa. Water shortages are extending into the interior of the country and hitting the economic hub of Gauteng particularly hard.
What is unique about these shortages is that they are coming at a time when the country’s dams are relatively full.
This means that South Africa does not have a shortage of water. The problem is the infrastructure used to transport the water from bulk suppliers to the end consumer is deteriorating.
It is estimated that around 40% of the country’s water is lost to leakages between bulk suppliers and end users. This escalates close to 50% of all water in Johannesburg due to the city’s collapsing water infrastructure.
Water scientist Dr Anthony Turton said the present water shortages are due to infrastructure mismanagement rather than a lack of supply.
“If we manage our water wisely, we have enough to grow our economy and population. The problem is that we are not managing it wisely. It is not a water scarcity issue. It is an institutional failure issue.”
This is a national institutional failure and a severe local issue, with municipalities failing to maintain and upgrade their water infrastructure.
Local municipalities have shown they cannot correct problems despite multiple warnings and signs of failure.
“We can say that places like Johannesburg Water are a perfect example of state failure at a local level,” Turton said.
This is not unique to Johannesburg, with other metros and municipalities having similar issues.
In particular, other municipalities are having severe issues with water quality and safety due to the collapse of wastewater treatment plants.
Data from the Department of Water and Sanitation shows that 68% of wastewater treatment facilities in South Africa are inadequate.
This has significant implications for the economy and, more pressingly, for safe consumption. There have been numerous cholera and E.coli outbreaks across South Africa over the past two years.
Anthony Turton, professor at the University of the Free State
Climate specialist Professor David Walwyn said this can be directly attributed to deteriorating infrastructure at a municipal level.
“We are already seeing consequences of the collapse of capability at the local authority level. I think that is common across all public goods from roads to electricity to safety and security,” Walwyn said.
“We have seen vivid examples over the past few years relating to the dissolution of local capability.”
This has pushed businesses to reduce their reliance on centralised water supply, with companies spending billions on water reticulation systems.
Asset manager Coronation has even begun engaging with businesses it invests in regarding their reliance on centralised water supply as part of their investment process.
However, Walwyn warned that despite these mitigation efforts, prolonged water shortages make large-scale industry unviable in certain areas as it is too expensive to go completely off-grid.
“It is simply not possible to go off centralised water distribution for large industrial companies as can be done with electricity.”
Households have also begun reducing their reliance on government services, with Stats SA’s data showing a sharp reduction in South Africans interacting with various government services compared to 2019.
It attributed this decline to a lack of access to government services, a lack of trust in state-run institutions, and individual experiences of corruption impacting the state’s legitimacy.
Financial services firm PwC analysed this report and said the decline reflected a steady deterioration in the quality of public services.
The state’s capacity had been withered away due to corruption and incompetence, resulting in South Africans turning to private alternatives.
The country’s public sector is also under increasing pressure due to a reduction in funding and resources, making it incapable of providing the quantity and quality of services it once did.
Stats SA’s report shows that the decline in government service usage is widespread, spanning all sectors and even relatively well-run institutions.
