The establishment of Emfuleni local municipality’s new water utility, aimed at restoring its embattled water and sanitation systems to full functionality, is progressing well, Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister Dr Jack Bloom has said.

Established as a special-purpose vehicle, the Vaal Corporation Water Utility (VCWU) is a partnership between Rand Water Services and Emfuleni to manage, operate and rehabilitate water and sanitation services in the Vaal region.

Over the past few years, communities in Emfuleni have faced prolonged water outages, wastewater spills, a polluted environment and a 75% nonrevenue water rate.

The VCWU is now being prepared to take over the management and operation of water and sanitation services from the municipality and address the severe challenges that have plagued the region for many years.

According to Bloom, several key agreements have been signed, with the remaining approvals, including the employee transfer agreement, concluded by October 30.

Staff and assets are being moved to the new utility this month, with a full board to follow, comprising six directors nominated by Rand Water Services and two by Emfuleni, he says.

For the next few years, Emfuleni will need to become a construction site as decades of neglect, with no proper maintenance or replacement of water and sewer infrastructure, are addressed.

While old asbestos-cement pipes are collapsing and pump stations need to be rebuilt, one priority is to reduce Emfuleni’s high nonrevenue water, which is mostly caused by leaking pipes, starting with 164 identified priority leaks.

Backlogs include 1 700 water-related complaints, 912 leaking meters and 2 598 sewage spills.

An additional 11 teams have joined the normal 16 teams to repair the priority leaks.

Department of Water and Sanitation director-general Dr Sean Phillips describes the VCWU as an important partnership model that should be followed elsewhere in the country.

“By ring-fencing water revenue for reinvestment in water services, it prevents these funds from being diverted elsewhere. It also draws on Rand Water’s management expertise and financial capacity to mobilise the funding needed to rehabilitate the system,” he says.

Bloom assured that he will continue to monitor progress to ensure that the VCWU becomes fully operational as planned.

“It offers the best opportunity to modernise the water and sanitation infrastructure, reduce leaks and sewage spills and restore the Vaal river for recreation, tourism and job creation,” he says.