FREE State municipalities have lost more than R3 billion worth of potable water over the past five years due to leakages, illegal connections and failing infrastructure, according to Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) MEC Saki Mokoena.
Responding to a question from the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) in the Free State Legislature, Mokoena revealed that the province’s water loss crisis is worsening, with some municipalities losing more than half of their total water supply before it reaches consumers.
FF Plus provincial leader Armand Cloete condemned the situation, saying: “It is an absolute disgrace that more than R3 billion worth of potable water has gone to waste over the last five years due to leakages and illegal connections in Free State municipalities.”
The Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality, which includes Bloemfontein, Botshabelo, and Thaba Nchu, has emerged as one of the worst-affected municipalities.
According to the FF Plus’s calculations, Mangaung’s water losses may amount to as much as R1.6 billion during this period.
Cloete criticised the omission of Mangaung’s losses from Mokoena’s response.
“The FF Plus finds it strange that the MEC’s reply made no mention of the Mangaung Metro’s water losses and will insist in a follow-up question that the metro’s figures be disclosed as well,” he said.
Matjhabeng Local Municipality, which serves Welkom and surrounding towns, reported even higher losses.
In the 2021/22 financial year alone, Matjhabeng lost approximately 56 percent of its water supply, translating to a R323 million financial loss.
Over five years, the municipality’s total losses exceeded R1.8 billion.
“The other big culprit when it comes to water losses is Matjhabeng, which let more than R1.8 billion worth of clean water go to waste over the last five years,” Cloete noted.
“The MEC’s reply makes it clear that the ANC is utterly unable to maintain infrastructure.
“Free State residents are bearing the brunt of the ruling party’s failures,.
“Several Free State towns did not have water during the festive season because infrastructure has not been maintained or upgraded during the last 30 years of ANC rule.”
According to Cloete, a recent FF Plus survey found that up to 38 towns in the Free State currently have little to no access to water.
Areas such as Wepener, Ventersburg, Brandfort, Theunissen, Winburg and Edenville, the party says, have experienced water shortages for more than two months, while some northern parts of Bloemfontein have been without water for over two weeks due to infrastructure failures at Maselspoort.
Cloete warned of future consequences if water losses are not curbed.
“If water in the Free State is lost at this rate, the province may face serious social instability in the foreseeable future,” the FF Plus legislator said.
Water shortages have triggered growing public outcry, with residents and businesses expressing frustration over service delivery failures.
The issue has also fuelled concerns over public health, sanitation and economic activity in affected municipalities.
However, Mokoena defended the provincial government’s efforts to mitigate water losses.
“Municipalities were engaged and are still being engaged on a quarterly basis via the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) coordination forum where all MIG implementation plans are interrogated when they report and plan for the MTEF period,” the MEC said.
“This is a condition set within the MIG Division of Revenue Act framework where it says: extent of non-revenue water as reported in the audited municipal annual financial statements. Where non-revenue water is more than 30 percent and not decreasing from year to year, the municipality shall be determined to be failing to manage its water supply.”
He further explained: “COGTA through MIG monitors compliance to the framework in ensuring that projects that seek to reduce water losses from bulk water supply, reticulation system and until the user are implemented to curb any wastage.
“Reporting of all these initiatives happens on a quarterly basis and it is continuous.”
Mokoena also highlighted collaboration with the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS).
“Through the Department of Water and Sanitation there are various initiatives by water sector support and communication divisions within regional offices of the DWS where awareness campaigns are undertaken as part of contributions towards reduction of water losses within households and targeting schools, communities for behavioral change on how water must be utilised,” he said.
“However, where scope of service requires capital budget, the DWS funds through the Water Services Infrastructure Grant to address any deficiencies within water services systems i.e. refurbishment of water treatment works, installation of zonal and household meters etc.”
Cloete emphasised that funds wasted through water losses could have been put to better use.
He further revealed that some municipalities had failed to submit financial statements indicating water losses for several years, suggesting the true extent of losses was even higher.
“It is a crime to waste water on this scale in a water-scarce province while residents are plagued by frequent water outages,” Cloete said.
With demand for potable water increasing due to population growth and climate change, experts warn that unless urgent interventions are made, the Free State could face an even greater water crisis in the coming years. – Staff Reporter