There is no excuse for the staggering R117 million in water losses recorded by Mogale City Local Municipality (Krugersdorp, Magaliesburg, Muldersdrift) in the 2024/2025 financial year.
This is so-called “non-revenue water”, which refers to water purchased by the Municipality that cannot be recovered or billed to residents.
The Municipality attributes the loss to water theft, illegal connections, tampering with water meters and unrecorded consumption.
While these factors do play a role, the Municipality is not telling the full story.
The actual cause is years of mismanagement and neglect of infrastructure. Old and decaying pipelines burst regularly, and repairs often take longer than 24 hours – sometimes days – because of a lack of basic equipment, such as TLBs.
Meanwhile, thousands of litres of water seep into the ground.
The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) expects that the figure for the current financial year (2025/2026) could be the same or even higher, as no decisive plan has been implemented to reduce water losses.
Taxpayers are the ones paying the price for the ANC administration’s incompetence, as their money is literally disappearing into the ground.
The Freedom Front Plus has already sent an official letter to the Mayor, Lucky Sele, demanding a dedicated action plan.
The Municipality should shoulder the blame for the consequences of decaying infrastructure and stop shifting it all to external factors, such as theft.
It is time to call the ANC to account, and elect a government that takes responsibility and prioritises the interests of residents.
