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At the heart of Gauteng’s water crisis, is the failure of the Gauteng Provincial Government to prioritise the creation of a provincial infrastructure masterplan. It is time for the premier and his executive to step up.

A provincial infrastructure masterplan enables the province, and all municipalities in it to adequately manage resources, their infrastructure and to plan the use of their budgets. Right now, planning in any way is impossible.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) knows that Gauteng has enough water, the problem is that infrastructure is failing.

12 300km – that’s how long the water pipe infrastructure in Johannesburg is. In the last financial year in Johannesburg just under 30km of pipes were repaired, updated and replaced. If, for an example, the City of Johannesburg started replacing water pipes at a rate of 100km/year, it would take them more than 100 years to bring the city’s infrastructure up to date.

That is both impossible, and nonsensical.

Without a Provincial Infrastructure Masterplan, the Gauteng Water Crisis will be disastrous, because municipalities cannot handle it on their own. The Provincial Government must take responsibility for their role.

Bearing that in mind it is worrying to hear that Premier Panyaza Lesufi makes the argument that water is not a provincial competency. He might not be directly responsible for water provision, but he is responsible for creating the environment wherein water can be reticulated.

However, we refuse to accept this vacuum in leadership.

I challenge Panyaza Lesufi to a public debate. We need to engage in a conversation around the Gauteng Water Crisis, and we need to come up with a transparent solution. I invite you to a debate, and I invite you to bring your solutions to the table.

Throwing your hands in the air and saying that it isn’t in your ambit, is the real problem here.

Issued by Solly Msimanga MPL - DA Gauteng Provincial Leader