The national government has acknowledged that many municipalities across South Africa lack the engineering capacity to address escalating water losses.
Deputy President Paul Mashatile an assessment of water supply challenges across Gauteng.
“Some municipalities don’t have properly qualified engineers to do the work. That’s where we are intervening to make sure those people are appointed to help municipalities build capacity,” he explained.
The deputy president also highlighted vulnerabilities in pump stations and reticulation networks as factors worsening the water crisis. “Municipalities need to maintain the infrastructure because the leakages are a big challenge. We must declare war on leaks to make sure that we save water. Our challenges are really in the municipalities as leakages are due to infrastructure that has not been refurbished,” Mashatile added.