One of the country’s foremost authorities on water, and more specifically, the much-publicised water crisis in which Johannesburg currently finds itself, paid a visit to Florida on September 16.

Dr Ferrial Adam, the executive director of civic organisation Water Community Action Network (CAN), and Dr Lesego Loate from the Society, Work and Politics (SWOP) Institute at Wits University made appearances during Florida Block Watch’s community meeting at Hoërskool Florida on Tuesday, September 16.

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They informed the community of the actual state of affairs and what is being done behind the scenes to try and avert disaster.

According to Loate, the ruling party, when it took over, focused solely on what he terms ‘water justice’.

“Under the previous regime, there was no fairness in terms of the deployment of water infrastructure and, understandably, they were focused on rectifying this situation.”

Loate underlined how policy breakdowns, political leadership changes, and the exclusive focus on equity and justice have led to the breakdown of infrastructure.

“Legislation allows for a maximum of seven days’ interruption of water supply. I think we are well past that,” he says, adding that the city is essentially extorting citizens into paying exorbitant amounts for basic services, thus creating a new water injustice without ever having addressed the original injustice.

• Also read: Massive sewage problem at Florida Lake

Adam took to the stage and immediately congratulated Florida Block Watch for the sterling work they do.

“Listening to you during this meeting, it’s like you are running your own little government, discussing the finances, the maintenance and cleaning of your sidewalks and parks, pothole repair, security, and electricity supply.”

Adam said she has fond memories of visiting Florida Lake as a child, but now this lake, like most other water bodies, is being neglected and polluted.

“Water resources in South Africa are under a lot of stress, which is a massive problem in a water-scarce country with relatively low rainfall.

“Sixty percent of all tap water in the country does not comply with minimum biological standards, and 77% of water is non-compliant with chemical standards.

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“Nearly 70% of our wastewater treatment plants are classified as poor to critical, and about 50 000 litres of sewage is flowing into our rivers every second.

“All this while 47.4% of clean, potable water is lost due to dilapidated infrastructure.”

Adam added that 46% of water systems in the country are critical, and half of all tap water in the country is not potable.

“About half of the country’s households don’t have a water tap at home. This is an age where we have AI.”

She highlighted that government budgeting for water infrastructure or maintenance is an eye-opener.

“There isn’t enough money. It only exists on paper. Some of the contracts are supposed to be done already, but they are not even signed yet. Meanwhile, corruption is on the increase and becoming even more blatant and rampant.

“Two companies that were recently in the news for having secured massive water tenders are operating openly regardless of the public outcry.

“In Johannesburg, 42 of the 84 water reservoirs are leaking. We don’t have adequate water storage capacity.”

She reiterated WaterCAN’s call on the government to urgently ringfence funding for water infrastructure, appoint qualified engineers, immediately initiate an emergency leak repair programme, implement transparent auditing practices, and create a multi-party water crisis committee.