Exploring the Adequacy of South African Water Law in Managing Non-revenue Water: A Focus on South African Cities

• Author: Nicolene Renske Steyn
• DOI: 10.25159/2522-6800/10340
• Published date: 01 June 2022
• Date: 01 June 2022
• Pages: 1-26

Article

Southern African Public Law

https://doi.org/10.25159/2522-6800/10340

https://unisapressjournals.co.za/index.php/SAPL

ISSN 2522-6800 (Online), 2219-6412 (Print)

#10340 | 26 pages

© Unisa Press 2022

Exploring the Adequacy of South African Water

Law in Managing Non-revenue Water: A Focus on

South African Cities

Nicolene Renske Steyn

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9820-1596

North-West University

niki.nr.steyn@gmail.com

Abstract

South African cities face significant levels of water wastage and inefficient use,

which hamper the supply of water services to communities. A primary reason

for this is high levels of non-revenue water, also known as water losses. Non-

revenue water includes all water lost through physical leakages, commercial

losses and unbilled authorised use before it reaches the consumer. Non-revenue

water is estimated at more than thirty-seven per cent on average in South African

cities, and up to sixty per cent in many irrigation and municipal supply schemes.

For cities to increase their water supply and to provide sufficient water to

communities, they must drastically decrease non-revenue water to reconcile

water withdrawals with supply. This article critically examines the country’s

water laws and policies to determine the specific duties that cities have with

regard to the challenge of non-revenue water. The article also seeks to determine

the adequacy of the law in managing non-revenue water in cities. While it finds

that the law provides adequately for the regulation of non-revenue water in

cities, many duties overlap and the legal framework is fragmented. The author

offers several recommendations, including the development of improved

oversight measures to ensure that cities fulfil the duties expected of them.

Keywords: water service delivery; non-revenue water; water losses; access to water;

cities; local government law; water law; South Africa

Steyn

2

Introduction

1

Access to sufficient water is constitutionally mandated,

2

and is an essential component

of urban development policies.

3

South Africa is a water-scarce

4

or water-stressed

country

5

and is considered the thirtieth driest country in the world.

6

The water available

to the country’s inhabitants is limited in the extreme.

7

In 2005, just over 1 200 kilolitres

of freshwater was available for every person per year of the then estimated population

of forty-two million. Relative to this, in 2019 South Africa had a population of

approximately fifty-eight million.

8

The demand for water in cities is vastly affected by

this increase in population size since the greatest part of South Africa’s population

resides in urban areas.

9

This exponential growth in population, coupled with an urgent

water supply need and an ever-developing economy, has severely affected cities’ water

resource availability.

10

In addition to being a water-scarce country, South Africa faces significant levels of

water wastage and inefficient usage, known as non-revenue water. Water loss or non-

revenue water may be said to include all the water that is lost through both physical

leakages or commercial losses (such as billing errors, theft, and meter under-

registration) as well as unbilled authorised consumption (eg, mains flushing and fire-

fighting) before it reaches the consumer.

11

In municipalities, non-revenue water is

1

This article is based on research from the author’s PhD thesis, which was conducted with the financial

support of the National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF) (Grant No 115581). All views

and errors are the author’s o wn and do not represent the views of the NRF. I am extremely grateful

to the reviewers and Professor Anél du Plessis for their insightful comments and suggestions. Thank

you.

2

See the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 (hereafter, the Constitution) s 27(1) (b).

The duty to provide water services falls on mun icipalities in terms of Schedule 4 Part B of the

Constitution.

3

Ndodana Nleya, ‘Development Policy and Water Services in South Africa: An Urban Poverty

Perspective’ (2008) 25 Development Southern Africa 269.

4

Preamble of the National Water Act 36 of 1998 (hereafter the NWA); Hubert Thompson, Water Law:

A Practical Approach to Resource Management and the Provision of Services (Juta 2006) 7.

5

Rand Water, ‘Water Wise – Water Situation in South Africa’ (Waterwise.co.za 2016)

accessed 18 July 2021.

6

Giovanna Gerbi, ‘SA Ranked 30th Driest Coun try in the World’ (ewn.co.za 2017)

in-the-world> accessed 18 July 2021.

7

Thompson (n 4) 7.

8

Worldometer, ‘South Africa Population (2019) – Worldometers’ (Worldometers.info 2019)

accessed 18 July

2021.

9

World Population Review, ‘South Africa Population 2019 (Demographics, Maps, Graphs)’

(Worldpopulationreview.com 2019)

population/> accessed 18 July 2021.

10

Thompson (n 4) 7.

11

Ntokozo Gumbi and Mamoloko Rangongo, ‘Factors That Hinder Effective Management and the

Supply of Clean Potable Water at EThekwini Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal’ (The 3rd Annual

International Conference on Public Administration and Development Alternatives, Saldanha Bay,

July 2018) 625 accessed 18 July 2021.