Durban - THE water crisis in the province can be resolved through collaborative efforts while sustaining water service delivery will require investments through tariffs and taxes.
This is the view of the SA Local Government Association (Salga) KwaZulu-Natal chairperson, Thami Ntuli.
Speaking yesterday to councillors from across KZN, Ntuli said sustaining water service delivery would require investment through funding instruments such as tariffs, taxes and transfers.
“South Africa is a water-scarce country and we need to collectively take responsibility for how we manage and use our water resources.”
Councillors from various municipalities in KZN have gathered in Durban for a three-day training programme hosted by Salga on the ins and outs of managing the water and sanitation department.
Ntuli said some of the challenges faced by municipalities regarding water and sanitation included water usage by consumers that exceeds supply, non-payment of services, wastewater pollution and flood-damaged infrastructure.
“We all know that some municipalities’ wastewater facilities discharge effluent that is not in accordance to set standards and as such cause pollution in our water. The consequence of such is an increase in treatment costs.”
This type of pollution was recently detected in the uMngeni and Ohlanga rivers which resulted in high levels of E coli contamination.
eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Lindiwe Khuzwayo, responding to the hazardous levels of E coli in the uMngeni River near the Northern Waste Water Treatment Works outfall, said there were challenges at this catchment such as vandalised pump stations and treatment works which were severely impacted by the floods.
She said the municipality had identified all the infrastructure that was affected by the storm.
“Various work packages were identified and ranked according to severity on the damaged infrastructure so that the external contractors and internal resources can be deployed accordingly. Repairs are under way as we speak. Some of the jobs have been completed.
“Water quality monitoring of the beaches is ongoing. So far the water quality of the beaches that were opened is sufficient. Beaches that are closer to the infrastructure that was affected by storm and not yet fixed were never opened, and as a precaution those beaches remain closed.”
On non-payment for services, Ntuli said some consumers were receiving water supply but were not connected to the billing system of municipalities.
“Over 40% of revenue is lost through leaking pipes, and illegal connections are a cause for concern. Estimated cost for such is in order of R9 billion per annum.”
Ntuli said municipalities would intensify the collection of debt owed by consumers, especially by government departments, adding that municipalities continued to provide services but payment was not forthcoming.
He said it should be acknowledged that factors that contributed to the current situation in local government were both historical (municipalities inherited old infrastructure that was due for replacement without funding), and the lack of maintenance and investment, and shortage of kills.
“Salga, working in collaboration with its partners, is exploring alternative revenue sources through projects such as sludge to fertiliser, hydropower, water re-use etc. These are alternative mechanisms aimed at reducing the municipal cost of business and thus generating alternative revenue sources.”
Bongiwe Msane, director for the water sector support in the Department of Water and Sanitation, said the department had put together a forum made up of all municipalities where discussions around how revenue losses could be resolved.
“Our infrastructure is no longer ageing, but has reached a stage where it has aged, in the forum meetings we assist municipalities in identifying these damaged infrastructure and together we evaluate whether they are fixable or need to be replaced.”