The Auditor-General of South Africa has revealed that more than 59 municipalities spent a staggering R2.32 billion on water tankering services during the 2023-2024 financial year, as the country’s water infrastructure continues to deteriorate.

Speaking to the Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation on Tuesday, Jolene Pillay, Senior Manager at the Auditor-General, highlighted a series of alarming findings about water service delivery across the country, warning that without urgent action, these challenges will worsen.

The Auditor-General’s report pointed to a systemic failure in water service planning and management.

While many entities in the water sector, including the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), Water Trading Entity (WTE), and the seven national water boards, were found to be unqualified in their audits, the findings also revealed that the majority of South African municipalities were struggling to comply with basic water service standards.

“We are far from an ideal situation,” said Pillay. “Out of 135 water service authorities, only 23 were clean in their audits.The rest had either findings on their compliance with legislation or their performance.

”This means that more than 100 municipalities are either failing to meet the minimum requirements for water service delivery or are not effectively managing their resources.”

One of the most concerning issues highlighted in the report was the failure of many municipalities to prepare or update their Water Service Development Plans (WSDPs), which are essential for planning and managing water infrastructure.

Despite being required by the Water Services Act, 25 municipalities did not have these plans in place, and six had not updated theirs in over five years.

In particular, the  Sol Plaatje Local Municipality in the Northern Cape was cited as an example of how this failure to plan can cascade into deeper problems.

“Sol Plaatje did not have a WSDP or any operations and maintenance plans. This lack of planning meant that they couldn’t assess their water infrastructure condition, resulting in a 66% water loss rate and a reliance on costly water tankering services,” Pillay said.

The municipality spent R1.6 million on water tankers for the year, she said. 

The report also highlighted delays in water infrastructure projects as a major obstacle to improving water service delivery. Across the country, 32 water projects were found to be delayed by an average of 32 months, with some national projects facing delays of up to 62 months.

These delays, which span from planning to implementation, have had a cascading effect, exacerbating water shortages and leaving many communities without a reliable supply.

“Delays in infrastructure projects not only hinder the delivery of water but create a knock-on effect that slows down progress across the entire water value chain,” said Pillay.

Another critical issue raised was the maintenance, or lack thereof, of existing water infrastructure.

For the 2023-2024 financial year, the report revealed that water service authorities collectively reported R14.89 billion in water losses, with 74 municipalities exceeding the 30% loss threshold set by national standards.

The lack of maintenance and infrastructure investment has also led to high levels of water wastage, with municipalities increasingly relying on water tankers to meet basic supply needs.

“In total, R2.32 billion was spent on water tankering, with R419 million of this amount being irregularly spent,” Pillay said.

The failure to maintain wastewater treatment works has further compounded the crisis, with untreated wastewater being discharged into the environment, posing health risks to communities.

The Auditor-General’s report also referred to the findings in the Department of Water and Sanitation’s Green Drop Reports, which identified that 90% of wastewater treatment plants had failed to meet at least one quality standard, further threatening public health.

The Auditor-General’s office has called for immediate and comprehensive reforms in the management of water services.

Key recommendations include enhancing oversight of water service development plans and corrective action plans, improving coordination between national and provincial water authorities, and addressing the lack of institutional capacity within municipalities.

“Mayors and councils must take responsibility for ensuring the proper development and implementation of water service development plans. They need to prioritise investments in infrastructure maintenance and hold municipal managers accountable for water service delivery,” said Pillay.

She also urged the Minister of Water and Sanitation to push for the full operationalisation of catchment management agencies, which play a critical role in managing water resources across the country.

The report also highlighted the need for a structured monitoring and evaluation framework to track the performance of water conservation and demand management strategies.

“We need to ensure that there is clear accountability for water conservation efforts, as well as effective monitoring of water infrastructure projects,” Pillay said. 

The Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation was urged to hold accountable the accounting officers and authorities responsible for poor performance, as well as the failure to meet legislative requirements across water entities.

Pillay also called for stronger action on wastewater management and effluent quality, noting the urgent need for municipalities to address failures in wastewater treatment plants.

“The root causes of these problems, poor coordination, weak accountability, and a lack of institutional capacity, must be tackled if we are to achieve meaningful improvements in water service delivery,” she said.

hope.ntanzi@iol.co.za 

IOL News 

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