Metros looks set to deepen
throughout the distribution network. You need some sort of good water pressure to get those reservoirs filled quickly, so that slows down and while it’s still very slow, load-shedding also comes in,” Magoba said.
Load-shedding is not being applied in a way that the water distribution network is being spared. “You might find a particular network, a particular water purification system sitting in an area where it’s exempted from load-shedding, but if you’re not exempting the reservoirs or the pump stations, it’s not helping because you will have water treated but that water is not being pumped into the system,” he added.
Johannesburg’s water crisis is characteristic of any complex system “where instability within the system starts to oscillate” and eventually becomes more amplified over time, according to water specialist Anthony Turton, of the Centre for Environmental Management at the University of the Free State.
This oscillation is what provides signals to the management that a crisis is starting to build, “so self-correction is needed”.
When these signals are misinterpreted, Turton said, “no self-correction happens, and the oscillations become more pronounced eventually leading to catastrophic failure. This is a characteristic of complex systems where feedback loops are discreet but powerful. At a theoretical level, this is what we saw play out in SAA, in Eskom and now in places like Johannesburg Water.”
“How can Johannesburg Water be stable when the mayoral team is mired in dogfighting about who is actually in charge? To date, the mayor has shown no interest in the water issue, is technically incompetent and therefore unable to understand what it’s about, and therefore unable to give direction in times of crisis.”
He said Rand Water has a water use licence, and its infrastructure is designed to deliver what the licence empowers them to deliver. “Half of the water they deliver to any of the many municipalities they service is simply lost to leakage and unaccounted for water.”
Even if Rand Water doubled its production, it would still not be able to keep the reservoirs full because half of all water supplied is lost by municipalities.
The water crisis in Gauteng is emblematic of a broader national water crisis. “It manifests in all major metros, as well as in many small towns. The same conditions prevail — incompetent leadership that is unable to grasp the complexity of water supply systems, so the system is run into the ground,” Turton said.
Lester Goldman, chief executive of the Water Institute of Southern Africa, said: “It’s accepted that local government is a problem and that aligns very closely with the Green Drop and the forthcoming Blue Drop report.” There is no quick or simple solution other than local government in Gauteng “needs to up its game”.
“Water shortages will always exist in a water scarce country and Lesotho Highlands Phase 2 is going to assist with bulk water but that’s not where the problem lies,” Goldman said, referring to the long-delayed commissioning of the Polihali Dam in Lesotho, by 2028 to augment the Vaal River System for greater Gauteng. “The problem lies at the domestic level and it’s a local government challenge.”