Media Statement
07 March 2023
Johannesburg Water strengthens relations with stakeholders
In an effort to fortify the existing working relationship between Johannesburg Water and its stakeholders, the Entity hosted an engagement session with gated communities and sectional title holders.
The forum was held on Monday, 6 March 2023 at the Entity’s Cydna Laboratory in Houghton. This is part of Johannesburg Water’s commitment to improve customer and stakeholder satisfaction by enhancing stakeholder engagement programmes.
These stakeholder engagement sessions also serve as a platform for stakeholders to voice their concerns on any service delivery issues they may have.
Johannesburg Water gave an overview of the Company, performance highlights and the challenges experienced during the 2021/22 Financial Year, the hurdles projected going into the new financial year, as well as the interventions in place to mitigate those hurdles. Operations, Meter Reading, and Credit Control departments gave the audience insight on their processes and procedures.
Service delivery concerns raised by stakeholders included credit control and billing issues, as well as the turnaround time for reinstatements.
Furthermore, one of the major topics that were raised was the ongoing issue of water and sewer infrastructure renewals backlog. The replacement value of water and sewer infrastructure renewal backlog is currently sitting at R103 billion due to underfunding.
“We require R2 billion a year to invest in our infrastructure; however, the actual investment rate annually is restricted to R1 billion a year. So, that year-on-year deficiency accumulates over time, however the Entity is sourcing alternative funding.” explained Johannesburg Water’s General Manager: Strategy, Monitoring and Evaluation, Jones Mnisi.
“The funding model we have started implementing is to approach external private businesses and state-owned entities.”
A follow-up feedback session will be held in the next financial year.