On 11 December 2024, a civil society organisation, AfriForum, approached the High Court of South Africa, Pretoria Division on an urgent basis, seeking to interdict Rand Water from allegedly throttling/reducing water supply to the Govan Mbeki Local Municipality (GMLM).

The matter, which was set down for 17 December 2024, was seemingly triggered by a statement made by Ms. Fionna Pelman, a Democratic Alliance (DA) Councillor in GMLM, in a media statement of 29 November 2024. Ms. Pelman alleged that during a Portfolio Committee meeting with the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), a member of Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature, Mr Speedy Mashilo, MPL, indicated that Rand Water had taken steps to reduce or throttle water supply in the GMLM by 50% due to the outstanding debt of more than R800 million that the Municiaplity owes to Rand Water. In court, Rand Water contested these claims and proved to the court that no formal decision to throttle or reduce water supply to GMLM had been taken. Rand Water presented evidence to the court demonstrating that the allegations were unfounded.

After hearing arguments from both Rand Water and AfriForum, the court dismissed AfriForum’s application and granted a cost order against AfriForum. The dismissal was based on two critical findings:

1. No throttling decision had been made by Rand Water. Rand Water successfully demonstrated to the court that it had not implemented any measures to reduce/throttle water supply to GMLM, rendering AfriForum’s claims baseless.

2. Failure to establish urgency. The court ruled that AfriForum had failed to establish sufficient grounds for the matter to be heard on an urgent basis.

AfriForum’s premature application not only lacked factual support but mischaracterized Rand Water’s position on matters relating to its mandate of providing bulk potable water to its municipal customers. Rand Water perceives AfriForum’s sustained mischaracterization as part of the broader agenda by some sections of the society to discredit the entity and its leadership. If AfriForum’s intentions were sincere, AfriForum would have engaged Rand Water to obtain the facts and Rand Water would have provided the required facts.

As a state-owned entity, Rand Water has a huge responsibility to provide bulk potable water to municipalities in its areas of operation to enable municipalities to service their communities. Rand Water therefore pleads with organisations such as AfriForum and its affiliates to afford the entity a space to do so, rather than attempting to disrupt the entity from focusing on its mandate. In turn, Rand Water requests these entities to use their influence to persuade municipalities that owe Rand Water to pay for the bulk potable bulk water that they receive from Rand Water to ensure sustainability of Rand Water. Furthermore, these organisations can work with municipalities to reduce non-revenue water that municipalities are losing to ensure that most of the water that Rand Water supplies to municipalities reaches communities they are intended for.

The ruling reinforces Rand Water’s transparency and commitment to supplying reliable and quality bulk potable water. The ruling further debunks mis-leading narratives that are aimed at discrediting Rand Water and its leadership while creating unnecessary public panic.

For media enquiries, please contact:

▪ Justice Mohale (Media Relations Manager) at 083 417 6999 or jmohale@randwater.co.za

▪ Makenosi Maroo (Spokesperson) at 072 545 5041 or mmaroo@randwater.co.za.

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The Court Dismisses Afriforum Unwarranted Interdict Against Rand Water With Costs