Rand Water (RW) and the Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) have reached a partnership agreement and devised a new organisation to oversee the troubled local authority’s water infrastructure and revenue.
Their proposal now awaits approval from the national Minister of Water and Sanitation.
The driving force behind this ground-breaking initiative is to address Emfuleni’s notorious “Streets of Shame,” which are frequently inundated with sewage and potable water leaks, consequently contaminating the Vaal River due to deteriorating municipal infrastructure.
Both ELM and RW suffer significant revenue losses due to these sewage and water leaks in Emfuleni.
After years of struggling to settle its R1 billion debt to RW, ELM made a strategic decision to jointly manage its dysfunctional Metsi-a-Lekoa water department.
The Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) partnership agreement, developed through months of intensive negotiation and planning, aims to curb massive water leakages—which waste up to 60% of potable water supplied to ELM by Rand Water—and address broken water and sanitation infrastructure, ensuring a reliable revenue stream for both RW and ELM.
The SPV, expected to be operational for three years and potentially re-branded, now awaits the decision and approval of Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu.
The ELM Council endorsed the partnership plan in March this year.
Mchunu has since been actively involved in ELM’s water challenges, particularly the precarious state of municipal water and sanitation infrastructure leading to extensive sewage pollution of the Vaal river system.
Despite significant efforts by national Water and Sanitation Department, the SA National Defence Force, and entities like ERWAT, Emfuleni’s streets still suffer from substantial sewage and water leaks into the Vaal River.
The ongoing Vaal River rehabilitation project, managed by Rand Water, has also been drawn into the ongoing and escalating sewage-related pollution crises, such as the water lettuce proliferation on the Vaal river.
The proposed SPV structure forms part of a crucial component of ELM municipal Manager April Ntuli’s turnaround strategy for the financially troubled municipality, which owes Eskom a staggering R7 billion and Rand Water an additional R1 billion.
However, since June 2023, ELM’s debt has been covered by the National Treasury’s municipal debt relief program.
Negotiations are also currently also underway with Eskom for a similar agency deal to manage the municipality’s electricity infrastructure and revenue stream.