Joburg’s hidden billion rand a year crisis 

The City of Johannesburg (CoJ) spends R1 billion a year fixing leaks in its reservoirs and extensive water infrastructure. 

This comes amid reports that the CoJ is considering tightening water restrictions to artificially reduce demand so its ailing water system can recover. 

In the City’s Commando system of reservoirs, water levels are steadily declining towards 40%, which is historically low for this time of the year. 

Water Ledger’s Benoit Le Roy explained that reservoir levels typically reach as high as 80% capacity during the winter as lower demand enables them to be filled up in anticipation of higher demand during summer. 

This has not been the case this year, as water infrastructure across Gauteng has deteriorated to the point that reservoirs cannot be sufficiently full despite Rand Water pumping at its maximum rate. 

“That means the system is leaking more than previously thought. This also cannot be the result of small surface leaks. These are main lines underground that are leaking,” Le Roy said. 

As temperatures increase into the summer months, water demand will rise, placing the system under even more pressure. 

“The demand has gone up in recent days, and we are already on the edge. We are at the cliff edge if you like.” 

Things are only likely to get worse, with Rand Water having to cut its delivery of water to Gauteng metros by 10% in the coming months to ensure it remains below its legal limit outlined in its water use licence. 

“This is really not helpful for us, and the demand is currently higher than supply levels,” Joburg Mayor Dada Morero told Newzroom Afrika. 

“So, we are calling on residents to help lower consumption so that some water can be provided to all, even at lower pressure, so that we can fill our reservoirs.” 

“An extreme scenario would be if we drop below 40% capacity. This would mena that we are in trouble. We do not think we will get into trouble or extreme trouble as long as residents do what the city is calling on them to do.” 

The average consumption in Gauteng is 279 litres per capita per day, which is far higher than the global average of 173 litres per capita per day.

Apart from calling on residents to reduce their consumption, Morero said the CoJ is hard at work in making the city’s water system more resilient. 

This includes the construction of a new reservoir in Brixton that should come online in April 2025 to alleviate some constraints in surrounding areas. 

However, the main problem is not the lack of infrastructure. The main problem currently is the collapse of existing infrastructure. 

It is estimated that Joburg’s non-revenue water accounts for 49% of the supply. This means that nearly half of all water pumped from Rand Water to Joburg Water is lost before it reaches the end user due to leaks or illegal connections. 

Morero said the city is working to fix major leaks at its reservoirs and pumping stations but explained that it is financially limited in what it can do. 

“We need R1 billion just to deal with our reservoirs, with around 45 needing to be refurbished as they are leaking,” he said. 

This cost does not include the overhaul needed at the city’s pumping stations or improvements to its pipe network. Morero said the city is also busy replacing 685 pressure valves. 

“We are currently budgeting around R1 billion to fix leaks, but we need much more, and we do not have the budget for it.”

“So, we are looking at other ways to raise capital to address water infrastructure challenges.” 

Bloomberg reported that the mayor is locked in negotiations with Standard Bank and the World Bank, among others, for financing arrangements. 

Beyond debt financing, the city is considering other ways of raising money, including ring-fencing a portion of the revenue collected for an infrastructure fund that will be used to repair power and water equipment. 

The city needs around R221 billion to catch up on maintenance and overdue infrastructure upgrades. 

“We are looking at how we can do some of these things off the balance sheet by raising money from private funders or anyone in the market who can help us to close that gap,” he told Bloomberg.

“Our projections are that we would need between R10 billion and R15 billion just to neutralise or maintain the water infrastructure.”