The Democratic Alliance (DA) will submit a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application to: “find the truth for residents of Jo’burg” after City of Johannesburg officials: “obfuscated and denied defunding Jo’burg Water of R4 billion of its water infrastructure maintenance budget, as the City’s water crisis escalates.”

During a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee oversight visit this week, officials dismissed the allegation even as: “taps in Jo’burg remain dry, forcing residents daily to queue for water tankers, which is an unacceptable reality that the DA rejects,” said DA spokesperson on Water and Sanitation Stephen Moore MP.

According to Moore, the DA’s PAIA submission will request: “daily balances for all Johannesburg Water bank accounts over selected dates,” “the City’s Group Treasury cash-management (sweeping) policy, mandates, and bank agreements that authorise the pooling of municipal-entity cash,” and: “Johannesburg Water’s aged-creditors schedule and payment-run histories for the past four months.” It will also seek: “a list of capital and refurbishment projects delayed or down-scaled in 2024/25 due to late or non-payment, with the value and duration of each delay.”

“These disclosures are necessary to verify the true liquidity available to Johannesburg Water and to determine whether public communications have accurately reflected the financial position presented to Parliament,” Moore said. “Lying to Parliament is a criminal offence, and the DA will uncover the truth.”

Moore added that: “Johannesburg’s residents cannot be asked to accept tanker queues and intermittent supply while funds intended for water security are redistributed to plug gaps elsewhere. Transparency, disciplined cash management and genuine ring-fencing are non-negotiable if Johannesburg Water is to stabilise supply, pay its creditors, and deliver the upgrades the network urgently needs.”

Moore said: “The DA will find the truth here and hold those responsible to account.”