Water crisis: Salga opposes Ramaphosa's threat of criminal prosecution of municipalities

The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) has pushed back against a move to “force” municipalities to deliver water to communities under the threat of criminal prosecution.

The public entity composed of South Africa's local governments warned that taking municipalities to court is short-sighted and a waste of the meagre resources needed to deliver services.

SALGA president Bheke Stofile spoke to The Mercury yesterday amid pronouncements by President Cyril Ramaphosa that the government is taking draconian measures against municipalities that fail to deliver water to communities, including possible criminal prosecution.

Ramaphosa's pronouncement has drawn mixed reactions, with councillors living in areas impacted by water shortages stating that taking criminal action against the municipality is the first step to ensuring that the problem is taken seriously by the council.

In his State of the Nation address last week, Ramaphosa said: “Water is now the single most important issue for many people in South Africa. There is no silver bullet to address this challenge, which has its roots in systemic failures and many years of neglecting infrastructure.”

He noted that the government has already laid criminal charges against 56 municipalities that have failed to meet their obligations. They will now move to lay charges against municipal managers in their personal capacity for violating the National Water Act.

Stofile stated that municipalities are facing challenges, and the only way to resolve those challenges is through the intergovernmental process, not through legal instruments. “Taking the municipality to court is short-sighted and a waste of the meagre resources needed to deliver services. Let me tell you, you can take the municipality to court, but if they don't have the money, then what? What needs to change is the funding models of the municipality,” he said.

He noted that municipalities have been given almost half of the work (service) to deliver for communities but have not been given a budget to do so.

In KwaZulu-Natal, several municipalities have failed to deliver water, leading to complaints by residents. Among these municipalities are Ugu and uMgungundlovu. Councillors of municipalities supplied by the uMgungundlovu district spoke of their challenges. Among the areas supplied by this municipality are uMngeni Local Municipality and Impendle Local Municipality.

Sadewu Ngubane, an IFP councillor in the Impendle Local Municipality, said the announcement by the president is a very positive step. “Now we all know that not having water can be considered a criminal offence. We have about less than 50 percent of the homes in the area that have tap water; the rest of the population has to rely on water tankers and standpipes.

“Having a tap in your yard does not guarantee water; even those residents can go weeks without water." Water in this area is a serious challenge. “We hope that with the president's pronouncement on the matter, we will soon see a change because the municipality should quickly reevaluate their performance to determine their shortcomings and address them before they have to face criminal charges.”

uMngeni Local Municipality ward councillor Hazel Lake said many requests for water services go completely unanswered by uMgungundlovu. “In uMngeni, in areas in Ward 8 and eNguga, there is a very poor supply, falling far short of the constitutional rights,” she said.

Lake said the cause is years of neglect of infrastructure and a lack of focus on core infrastructure development. “The municipality’s focus is not on water supply. Lack of funding caused by very poor collections is also an issue, with around 60% water payment collections, and in rural and township areas only 1% or 2%. There are also huge losses in non-revenue water – 46% of water purchases are lost to leaks, theft and bursts.”

Brian Zuma, uMgungundlovu District Municipality spokesperson, said the water challenges are expensive and complex. “The biggest challenge is the infrastructure backlog. Over R6 billion is required to replace ageing infrastructure, which results in a lot of water losses through pipe bursts and leaks.”

Zuma said what is important is for all stakeholders to work together. “Delivering water to communities is a constitutional mandate. That is the basis of that warning. But what’s most important is the cooperation from communities on saving water and using it sparingly. Besides problems of ageing infrastructure, communities exacerbate the situation through a lot of water wastage.

“We should go aggressively, nationally, with educational programmes to save water, and be very strict on by-laws where people illegally connect themselves to the network, and regulate water usage for car washes,” he said.

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