https://www.engineeringnews.co.za

Investment in water infrastructure worrying

Investment in water infrastructure worrying

Photo by Duane Daws

12th November 2015

By: News24Wire

  

Font size: - +

As South Africa battles drought-induced water shortages, a South African Cities Network survey has shown that the overall expenditure of the country’s biggest municipalities declined by 1% between 2009 and 2013.

The dry conditions have exposed inadequacies in water infrastructure, with recent reports alleging that the country loses about 37% of potable water through leaking pipes, taps and other infrastructure failures.

In its report 'State of the City Finances 2015', the South African Cities Network said the combined water expenditure of Johannesburg, Cape Town, eThekwini, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Nelson Mandela Bay, Mangaung, Buffalo City and Msunduizi had declined in real terms from R3.2-billion in 2009/10 to R3.1-billion 2013/14.

While some of the municipalities’ capital expenditure on water was high, others spent significantly less. For instance, Mangaung and Ekurhuleni’s investment in water increased by 76% and 37%, respectively. On the other hand, eThekwini’s expenditure slipped by 24%. “While certain cities are clearly prioritising spending on water infrastructure, others are not,” South African Cities Network said.

On the other hand, in the same period the municipalities’ expenditure on electricity went up by 4%. eThekwini, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Nelson Mandela Bay reduced their electricity expenditure. The South African Cities Network said such a trend is cause for concern.

Some of the country’s municipalities are licensed distributors of electricity, alongside Eskom. Failure to maintain their electricity distribution network heightens the risk of power outages. For instance, a large portion of Johannesburg receives its electricity from City Power, the electricity utility of the City of Johannesburg.

The overall capital expenditure of the country’s nine largest municipalities between 2009/10 and 2013/14 was R117-billion. This, South African Cities Network said, is an indication of the municipalities' role in driving economic development.

News24.com

Edited by News24Wire

Comments

Showroom

Rittal
Rittal

Rittal is a world leading provider of top-quality integrated systems for enclosures, power distribution, climate control, IT infrastructure and...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
SABAT
SABAT

From batteries for boats and jet skis, to batteries for cars and quad bikes, SABAT Batteries has positioned itself as the lifestyle battery of...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.079 0.132s - 150pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now