“The municipality failure to attend to reported water leaks within the recommended times causes a loss of revenue for utilities and an increase in rates for water users,” says Mollo.

According to Mollo the total cost of bulk water purchases for the municipality in 2020/2021 was over R1 billion, of which at least R592 million was the total material loss incurred in June 2021.

“This means that 56% of the municipality’s water purchase is unaccounted for due to crumbling and old water infrastructure. “Between 2016 and 2022, the cost of water has increased by 57%. Given this increase, it is imperative that Emfuleni Local Municipality quickly adopt effective water control practices,” Mollo said.

Mollo says effective water control measures is a smart investment that will ease the burden on consumers, preserve water resources and set the standard for responsible governance and resource protection. “Many parts of Gauteng are already facing a water crisis the least Emfuleni can do is manage its water system properly to avoid further wastage of this precious resource,” he concluded.