Towards the end of the 1990s, when it became clear to the white nationalist regime that apartheid was unsustainable, the government eased some of the legislation that had sustained its policy of separate development.
One of these was the provision of electricity, which, for decades, had been restricted to industries and white neighbourhoods. Access to the electricity grid was extended to black areas, particularly townships and parts of some Bantustans which had been systematically disenfranchised under the guise of being self-administered territories. Because the electricity infrastructure was never designed to serve a large population, it was clear to the apartheid administration that more electricity plants would need to be built when desegregation was done.
And so, following the ushering in of a new dispensation, the issue of building more plants became urgent. The democratic government under Nelson Mandela was repeatedly advised by Eskom to build more power plants to meet the growing demand for electricity. But the Mandela administration did not deem the matter urgent and instead, placed a ban on the construction of generators until 2004. Just three years later, in 2007, South Africa was hit by loadshedding. It wasn’t until then that the first phase of construction began on the Medupi power plant. A year later, construction on the Kusile power plant also started.
Addressing a gala dinner many years later, former president Thabo Mbeki, who had served as the deputy president under Mandela, admitted that the government had erred in its response to Eskom’s pleas for the building of more electricity plants. At the time, the government had argued that all this would do was to build excess capacity that was not needed. Mbeki stated: “We said not now, later. We were wrong, Eskom was right”. And indeed, it was, because its premonition about an electricity crisis came to pass, wiping billions of rands from the South African fiscus.
I am reflecting on the Eskom issue in light of the recently announced planned maintenance in the City of Ekurhuleni and some parts of the City of Tshwane by bulk water utility, Rand Water. The aim of this maintenance is to repair a leak in the pipeline. A similar situation occurred in Gauteng, where, in December, numerous suburbs experienced a water outage due to planned maintenance at the Eikenhof reservoir. The objective of the maintenance, which started on 13 December 2024, was to enhance the flexibility and availability of the system by correcting an outdated historical design.
Throughout the colonial and apartheid administration, water access was restricted to industries and white neighbourhoods while areas designated for black people were deprived of this important resource. As such, the engineering design of water infrastructure at the time was done with the aim of providing for a minority of the population. The advent of democracy resulted in the desegregation of public facilities, bringing millions of black people into the electricity grid and water systems. This has increased demand for water resources that have a limited supply.
The engine rooms at Rand Water’s Eikenhof Pumping Station were designed to be interrelated, and must now be made independent. Picture: File
In the context of Eikenhof, the engine rooms were designed to be interrelated, which was fit for purpose when it was servicing only a few neighbourhoods. Now, to ensure flexibility and water availability, the engine rooms must be made independent. Correcting this design limitation necessitated the planned maintenance that happened in Gauteng. The timing of the maintenance was also reasonable given that schools had closed, and businesses were winding down for the festive season. This had decreased consumption, which made it possible to ensure the stability of the system. While there is no perfect time to undertake maintenance of this magnitude, the timing was the best under the circumstances because any further delays would mean undertaking it during school days and the ordinary work period when consumption levels are at their peak. The interruption would be calamitous as schooling would be negatively impacted.
While the people of Gauteng have every reason to be frustrated, we must bear in mind that all these are temporary inconveniences aimed at ensuring long-term water security. If Rand Water does not undertake the maintenance now, we run the risk of facing an even greater water security crisis in a few years – no different to the one we faced with loadshedding in the new millennium due to a delay in the construction of new electricity plants at the dawn of democracy.
And so, we must decide whether we want to deal with this water challenge in its early stages or wait for it to become a crisis that result in dry taps. We cannot have both. And while planned maintenance may be inconvenient, we must always remember that it is being done to ensure water security in a province with the biggest population in the country and the largest economy. A Gauteng without water is unimaginable and would decimate the national economy in the same way that loadshedding did. It is a scenario that none of us can afford.
#Conviction
