DA Says Rand Water is Lying About Gauteng Water Crisis

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has accused Rand Water of misleading the public about how much water it is supplying to Johannesburg and Gauteng during the region’s ongoing water crisis.

In a statement released this week, Helen Zille, the DA’s mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, and the party’s spokesperson on water and sanitation, Stephen Moore, said Rand Water’s public claims do not match the utility’s own internal data.

According to the DA, Rand Water spokesperson Makenosi Maroo has said the utility is “pumping at over 5 000ML [megalitres] per day”. However, the DA says Rand Water’s own figures showed an average pumped volume of 4 726 ML per day. One megalitre equals one million litres, placing actual delivery 274 million litres per day below the public claim, the party said.

“The question is: Did they give the wrong statistics? Or are they lying to the public?” the statement asks, adding that neither explanation would inspire confidence during a crisis.

The DA argues that if Rand Water has not misled residents, then more water should be reaching municipal transmission systems, which it says is “demonstrably not the case in many areas on the ground”. If the data themselves are inaccurate, the party contends, it suggests the water board does not have a firm grip on the crisis.

The party has called on Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina to demand greater transparency from Rand Water and to consider temporarily allowing additional pumping from the Vaal Dam. It also wants daily public updates on pumping and demand figures, reservoir storage trends, system constraints, and realistic recovery timeframes, warning that “confusion and contradictions erode public trust and make it impossible for residents and businesses to plan”.

The issue of water will be an important issue for many voters in the next local government elections, due to be held within the next eleven months or so.

Zille has made the problems around water and sanitation in Johannesburg a key pillar of her mayoral campaign. The Common Sense reported on Zille taking a “swim” in water that had leaked from a broken pipe in north-eastern Johannesburg.

Polling data released by The Common Sense showed that Zille’s mayoral candidacy has widespread popular support, including among African National Congress (ANC) voters. Given the scale of the water crisis in Johannesburg and Gauteng and the ANC’s declining support levels, particularly in South Africa’s cities, the DA has a good chance of emerging as the biggest party in Johannesburg, with Zille being the likely next mayor of the city.