Rand Water CEO says South Africa is not facing a bulk water crisis

Rand Water CEO, Sipho Mosai, says South Africa is not facing a bulk water crisis, but rather maintenance recovery and other challenges further down the supply chain.

His comments came as many Gauteng households are suffering due to water shortages and intermittent supply.

Rand Water, South Africa’s largest bulk water supplier, plays a critical role in providing potable water to Gauteng municipalities, as well as to other provinces.

Municipalities are responsible for maintaining and operating the distribution networks that deliver water to end-users.

Speaking at the PSG Think Big webinar hosted by journalist and Smart Money host Alishia Seckam, Mosai highlighted several pressures on the country’s water system.

This includes ageing infrastructure, illegal water connections, and governance shortcomings at a municipal level.

At the end of 2024, Rand Water revealed that around 2.5 billion litres of the 5.2 billion litres it provides to Gauteng municipalities daily is lost through leaks, ageing infrastructure and theft.

Mosai explained that this vast volume strains infrastructure that is already weakened by years of inadequate maintenance and high water losses at the municipal stage.

In the economic hub of Johannesburg, the 2023 No Drop report by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) confirms water losses in the metro at nearly 40%, significantly higher than the international norm of 15%.

Non-revenue water, the volume of water that is pumped but for which the municipality receives no income, in Gauteng’s metros is also stark, with Johannesburg Water not getting revenue on nearly half of the water that it supplies.

“With losses of this magnitude, it is impossible to keep the system pressurised, so irrespective of how much Rand Water supplies, the system remains unstable,” explained water expert Professor Anthony Turton.

He uses the metaphor of a leaking bucket to illustrate the situation.

“Think of Rand Water as a hose and most Gauteng municipalities as leaking buckets. They will never be full, regardless of how much water is poured into them,” said Turton.

The real crisis

Mosai told the PSG Think Big webinar that South Africa’s water system is suffering due to ageing infrastructure, illegal connections, and poor municipal governance.

Daily per capita water consumption in South Africa has surged to 290 litres, raising concerns about sustainability.

However, said that the issue lies not with bulk water supply, but with downstream distribution and consumption patterns.

“We don’t have a bulk water crisis,” he said. “What we as a bulk utility are putting to the system is way above the world average.”

According to Mosai, the pressure on infrastructure from this high volume of water is being compounded by underinvestment in maintenance and high levels of water loss.

Recent maintenance outages have triggered public frustration around poor communication and slow service restoration.

Mosai pushed back on suggestions of poor execution. “All the maintenance schedules were completed on time,” he said.

“The system takes times to recover, and depending on where you are, it varies. Low lying areas normally receive water faster than high lying areas,” he said.

He also clarified criticism about water quality, stating that they supply some of the best drinking water in the world.

“We compare our water with the World Health Organisation standard. We check our water against and comply with the SANS 241,” he said.

“So, if anybody tells you that the water quality from Rand Water is sub-standard, just take that as misinformation.”

He said much of the public’s frustration stems from problems at the municipal level. “At the distribution level, we have ageing infrastructure and high-water losses,” he said.

He referred to national water strategies and the Department of Water and Sanitation’s blue-drop, no-drop, and green-drop assessments as evidence of deep-rooted issues.

To address this, Rand Water has established special purpose vehicles with municipalities to tackle infrastructure failures and non-revenue water.

He also welcomed ongoing legislative reforms that will allow for greater accountability in the system, including changes to who is permitted to provide water services.

Rand Water is moving ahead with large-scale capital projects. This includes upgrades to wastewater treatment works and new capacity to meet future demand.

By the end of the 2025 financial year, Rand Water expects to have added 600 million litres of water into the system.

“Last year, we added about 150 million litres of water into the system. We’re going to be adding an additional 450 million litres,” he said.