Water crisis: GNU-style key

Johannesburg's water crisis cannot be solved by any of the current players, especially not by the city council or its municipal-owned entity, Joburg Water.

- Martin Williams

They don't have the money or the skills. By its own admission, Joburg Water has an infrastructure renewal backlog of R32.54 billion - money which it has no prospect of raising under the current leadership.

According to a recent Daily Maverick exposé, the Joburg Water board is top-heavy with deployed cadres - political appointees devoid of relevant qualifications. Not one board member is a professional engineer.

This, plus the entity's track record of too many leaks and sewage spills left untended for too long, plus excavations that scar our roadscapes for months on end, make Joburg Water an unattractive investment.

Any significant financial contribution might just as well be poured down the drain. Investors with common sense wouldn't touch this. National Treasury would attach tough conditions.