Johannesburg faces R26 billion hidden crisis 

Johannesburg needs R26 billion to halt the collapse of its water infrastructure, with the city needing billions more to upgrade the system to cope with its growing population. 

South Africa’s biggest city has been beset by water shortages for the past few years, as its infrastructure has been unable to deliver water to the end user. 

Experts have been clear that the problem is not a shortage of water from the bulk supplier or at the country’s dams—it is municipal mismanagement. 

The director at Water Ledger South Africa, Benoit Le Roy, also made it clear to Newzroom Afrika that the crisis is not caused by users’ increased consumption. 

Le Roy said demand has not changed over the last three winters. Demand is highly predictable, and winter typically enables municipalities to prepare for increased consumption in summer. 

However, Johannesburg has been unable to, with failing water infrastructure preventing reservoirs from filling up. Many are below 50% capacity when they should be above 80% in anticipation of summer. 

As a result, consumption should not be a problem but it has become a major issue due to infrastructure failure. “The reality is, with the system as it is, we have to reduce demand, or it will collapse,” Le Roy said. 

The collapse of Joburg’s water system will take years to resolve, with the city alone needing R26 billion to repair its existing infrastructure. 

This R26 billion simply covers Johannesburg catching up in infrastructure repair and maintenance – not expanding to accommodate a growing population. 

Joburg Water, owned by the municipality, currently spends around R1.2 billion on its water infrastructure. This will have to be ramped up significantly. 

Le Roy emphasised that this is a municipality problem and not an issue on the part of the bulk supplier, Rand Water, which is relatively well-run and is able to adequately supply Gauteng’s metros. 

However, the more water Rand Water supplies, the more is lost, as Gauteng’s metros are like a sieve in terms of deteriorating infrastructure that prevents water from getting to the end user.

Non-revenue water, used as a metric to measure leakages, takes up 47% of water supplied by Rand Water. This means that nearly half of all the water supplied by Rand Water is lost before it reaches the end user. 

The global average is between 15% to 25%. 

Last month, the City of Johannesburg estimated it needs between R10 billion and R15 billion just to stop the current water shortages in the metro. 

Africa’s wealthiest city has faced growing financial strain in recent years, with mismanagement, corruption, and maintenance neglect severely affecting service delivery and revenue collection.

One of the most urgent issues is the city’s recurring and prolonged water shortages, which have disrupted both businesses and daily life.

Efforts to address this crisis have been hampered by a lack of a clear strategy, with funds meant for water infrastructure often diverted to other municipal needs.

In the past eight years, the city has seen nine different mayors, leading to instability and little progress in solving Johannesburg’s major challenges.

The latest to take on this role is Dada Morero, who is now responsible for stabilising the city but has cautioned that no significant improvements are expected within the next two years.

Morero’s immediate priority is securing funding to tackle the city’s critical infrastructure problems.

According to Bloomberg, the mayor is currently in talks with Standard Bank, the World Bank, and others to secure financial support.

Johannesburg requires an estimated R221 billion to address its maintenance backlog and overdue infrastructure upgrades.

“We are exploring ways to raise funds off the balance sheet by seeking private investors or other market solutions to help bridge the gap,” Morero told Bloomberg.

“Our projections indicate that between R10 billion and R15 billion is needed just to stabilise or maintain the water infrastructure.”