South Africa’s water leaks & illegal connections cost municipalities billions of rands

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, South Africa ranks as one of the top 30 driest and water-scarce countries in the world.

But despite this, municipalities across the country are losing billions of rands due to leaks and illegal water connections.

In eThekwini, 58% of the water the municipality purchases is deemed as non-revenue water – resulting in a R2 billion annual loss.

On Tuesday, Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu held talks in Durban where eThekwini municipality is losing the battle when it comes to revenue collection over water.

The director of the Institute for Water and Wastewater Technology at the Durban University of Technology, Professor Faizal Bux: “eThekwini metro is sitting with non-revenue water losses of more than 50%, which is completely unacceptable. It implies that 50% of the water we purchase from Umngeni Tugela bulk water supplier, we are losing it.”

The issue of water in Durban comes at a time when Rand Water embarks on water shifting as a management tool to disperse the water supply to communities across Gauteng.

Rand Water said it will shift the supply of water between four of its reservoirs in Gauteng to service one another when one reservoir is low.

-EWN

In other news – Big Zulu finally responds to rumours he’s gay

Well-known South African rapper Big Zulu has finally addressed a running social media joke about his s.e.xuality. This comes after popular X influencer @AdvoBarryRoux took to the social media platform to repost wedding images of the Inkabi Records boss’ doppelganger.

The images of the alleged gay couple went viral last year with Big Zulu’s name topping the trends list. At the time, trolls alleged that the hip-hop artist had gotten married to his high school sweetheart. Read More