Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina painted a sad state of affairs in the local government sphere regarding the provision of water on Tuesday, saying many municipalities were unable to collect revenue.
Majodina noted with concern that when municipalities collected the revenue, they used it for something else.
“They don’t ring fence water sales to be able to maintain the water infrastructure, because that is where the water infrastructure has totally collapsed, but also the technical capacity and skills of municipalities,” she said.
Majodina made the comment when her department appeared before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa).
“In the past, when we started with local government, we had about 84.6% of engineers at a local government level, but as I speak now, we are sitting at about 6.4 engineers. The positions are filled, but filled with the wrong people.”
She observed that every time there was no water in a village or township, people blamed her department, which was responsible for building water resources such as dams, canals, or water treatment plants.
“We regulate, but when it comes to reticulation of water and the provision of water is a different mandate altogether, that is in the local government.”
Majodina stated that there was no crisis when it came to the provision of bulk water supply.
“When it comes to the access to water through the taps, there is a challenge in that.”
Majodina told the MPs that her department has taken specific measures to ensure the security of the water supply by stabilising water boards, improving the supply of water quality. and ensuring the financial sustainability by addressing debt owed to water boards and developing a new financial model to address the aging infrastructure.
She also said the question of the sustainability of the water sector was very important, and the need for the water boards to be self-financing cannot be overemphasised.
“At the end of April 2025, the water boards are owed R25 billion by municipalities. The implications of the growing debt to municipalities are very serious. If a water board goes bankrupt, it not only affects the municipality that has not paid it, but it also affects the entire province.”
Majodina said she has been engaging premiers, MECs, all water service authorities, and mayors to ensure that they pay the water boards.
“The department is supported by the National Treasury because all that we have done at a political level was to meet with municipalities. Other municipalities signed the debt acceptance, but they did not pay, while others took us to court when we sent them letters of demand, despite the fact that we gave them a special dispensation that if they paid the current invoices, we are going to write off the historic debts. That is a challenge that we are sitting with.”
She also said they were employing other methods to recoup monies owed to the water boards.
“We met with the National Treasury, and Cogta to withhold the Equitable Share so as to enforce municipalities, to start see servicing their debt.”
Majodina said her department was bringing in reforms in the local government sector, where some municipalities are water service authorities and others are both authorities and service providers.
“We have 144 water services authorities in the country, but 105 are performing dismally… hence now the challenge of water that you see throughout the country.”
She said her department, working with Human Settlements, National Treasury, Electricity and Energy, and Cogta, has agreed to intervene in the top 20 “that are in ICU” as a team of these five.
“We are saying, let’s join hands and go there so that we can make a dent… if local government is not fixed, we are not going anywhere.”
