The delivery of water by municipalities to communities through trucks and tanks poses a risk to their ongoing financial sustainability, according to the National Treasury.
Image: Picture: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers
THE National Treasury has issued a stern warning to municipalities not to abuse the provision of water tankers and utilise them based on sound business principles or risk investigation by Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke.
Treasury’s warning comes as several parts of the country face water scarcity for various reasons including failure to maintain ageing infrastructure and vandalism, among others.
According to a circular dated March 19, 2025, there is a growing trend of water challenges in most municipalities in the country, which is spiralling out of control.
"This is a direct threat to municipalities’ financial sustainability and could lead to a lack of trading in this key source of municipal revenue. Most municipalities have tried to procure water tankers to close the gap in areas which are increasingly experiencing sporadic water supply challenges.
As a result, municipalities are not able to trade, leading to less revenue and an unprofitable water business," Treasury stated.
In addition, it noted that in the recent mid-year budget and performance review engagements it emerged that contracted water tankers have developed as a business rather than a stop gap measure.
"As such, municipalities are encouraged to protect their revenue through avoiding protracted long contracts of water tankers. Where possible the municipality should use its internal water tankers as a temporary measure with a clear intention to restore the service.
If the municipality provides a long-term service such as water for informal settlements, it is advised that tanks should be purchased and refilled with municipal water tankers," Treasury advised.
Municipalities, according to the National Treasury, should always be to strike a balance between the provision of service and protecting their revenue.
"Proper checks and balances must be considered as well as internal controls to avoid abuse in this regard and to ensure that in the event that the Office of the Auditor-General investigates these services, the use of water tankers and water tanks is based on sound business principles," it further cautioned.
Three weeks ago, while addressing the national Water and Sanitation Indaba, President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned the intentional destruction of water infrastructure for profit through tankers as these were meant to be temporary interventions and not become businesses.
"There are people who make it their business to go and cut water lines to create businesses for themselves so that they can cut water in trucks and tanks to our people. Now that is the criminality that has now entered the water space," he said.
Ramaphosa added that there were suddenly businesspeople driving around in fancy cars who own water trucking businesses when water should be transported through pipes.
"They get their henchmen to go and cut the water lines and then make sure there is failure by the local authority to deliver water leading to the alternative of relying on them to transport water because they make money out of transporting water.
"There is no dignity for our people to be standing alongside the street just tapping water from a truck where somebody is making a lot of money. This must end, we must bring this to an end," the president demanded.
Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina has also admitted that there is a lot of corruption in the water sector be it in the in the tankering or in the normal provision of water.
She added that water tanker mafias were vandalising water infrastructure and that this was among the reasons why there is no water in parts of the country and unscrupulous businesspeople vandalise the water pipeline so that municipalities hire them to deliver water.
Majodina has proposed that water strategic areas be declared national key points so that whoever is interfering with them for selfish interests is prosecuted and also advised municipalities that water tankering must be for emergencies when there is no water.
"Municipalities must build infrastructure rather than relying on water tankering," she said.
loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za
