Representatives of the Department of Water and Sanitation, City of Tshwane and Rand Water met on Sunday to find a common solution to the water challenges in Pretoria.
RNews previously reported that the city is once again facing significant challenges in providing essential water services to residents due to ongoing problems with Rand Water’s water supply.
According to Wisane Mavasa, spokesperson for the department of water and sanitation, an urgent meeting was called under the chairmanship of David Mahlobo, the deputy minister of the department, and attended by Cilliers Brink, Tshwane’s mayor, as well as Ramateu Monyokolo, chairman of Rand Water’s council, and other officials of the department of water and sanitation.
“The three institutions presented a report of a technical team meeting that was held earlier to find solutions to the issues that led to the problems between the city and the water supplier.
“Rand Water and the city council want to apologize to the residents for the water supply uncertainty and assure residents that the two institutions are committed to working together to ensure that these challenges affecting the city are resolved,” says Mavasa.
The city also confirmed that water in areas affected by shortages in recent days, including Mooikloof, Waterkloofrif, Akasia and Mabopane, has now been restored.
As part of the decisions of the meeting, a technical team consisting of the department, Rand Water and the City of Tshwane will meet regularly during the peak season to engage and provide holistic coordination, supply and management of water supply systems.
“The task force will share the state of their water supply systems on a daily basis; address water supply challenges in the city immediately; collaborating on water saving campaigns and mobilizing communities to save water,” says Mavasa.
This includes water restrictions where necessary; and improved communication with all stakeholders and members of the public in order to serve residents more effectively.
“To pay attention to the acute shortage of water in the system, Rand Water and the City of Tshwane are currently engaged in the technical review of historical water allocations to the city.”
According to Mavasa, they are also looking at water saving and demand management as well as the municipal affordability for additional water allocation to the city – which is being considered to ensure that the municipality can supply its residents with water in a sustainable manner.
