The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Wednesday accused African National Congress-led municipalities and Rand Water of collapsing the Gauteng water system, threatening to take legal action against Johannesburg Water and Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina.

This follows weeks of dry taps around the province, exacerbated by infrastructure failure, supply throttling and recent labour issues at Joburg Water.

The party is demanding that Majodina immediately instruct Rand Water to regularly and timeously communicate directly with the public and not through metros.

“Municipalities carry the primary responsibility. The scale of water leaks we see in Gauteng is the predictable result of political choices, budgets that do not prioritise maintenance, no matter what mayors say, weak consequence management where people are failing and do not suffer consequences, and a culture of reacting after failure rather than preventing it,” said DA Water and Sanitation spokesperson Stephen Moore.

He accused Rand Water of repeatedly failing to communicate directly, clearly and timeously with residents during major incidents. 

"They have a policy of only communicating via municipalities saying it is not their policy to communicate to residents.”

He said this caused harm, fueled rumours, and left families guessing.

“…this makes the Minister’s role unavoidable. The Minister is the executive authority, she is empowered to instruct water boards like Rand Water to communicate properly, and she can demand aligned, honest communication from municipalities. If she does not act, we will consider legal steps to compel lawful transparency and decisive intervention. This is her moment to show she puts the republic first and it is also a moment of truth for the water task team chaired by the Deputy President [Paul Mashatile], that the structure exists not only for speeches but for urgent action,” he said.

DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga said residents could not be blamed for the “incompetency and lack of proper planning” experienced.

He highlighted that from a provincial perspective, government’s response was to introduce integrated intergovernmental relations, which would see collaboration with municipalities.

The party said it wanted concrete steps to stabilise the system while repairs were implemented.

Moore said his party was demanding that national and provincial government activate the emergency and disaster funding instruments that were available.

“…but we also need to be clear on the rules. This cannot be a blank check or an avenue for corruption, it cannot be a bailout for general municipal cash flow. Any support must be ring-fenced for stabilisation and non-revenue water reduction, with strict reporting and measurable outputs. Leak repair capacity, pressure management and pipe replacement are the key things…,” he said.

The party also wants Majodina to relax water licence restrictions for Rand Water to aid Gauteng, and fix failing infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Majodina has previously said her department is not entirely to blame, stating that the department provides bulk water while reticulation (distribution) is the responsibility of local municipalities.