She was speaking in the National Assembly, making a statement on water security in the country.

Several municipalities across the country are struggling to provide clean water.

Majodina says while an average of 40% of clean water is lost through leaks in infrastructure, its consumption by the country’s citizens is among the highest in the world.

“SA needs to change behaviour and treat water like its scarce resource. We must fix leaks.” She adds that South Africa consumes roughly 237 litres of water per person per day while the global average is 173 litres.

Majodina says that they will embark on massive awareness campaigns in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. She says South Africa’s water resource mix must be broadened. “Our responsibility is to build water resources, municipalities must reticulate it from our resource.”

“One of the key ways to reduce water demand is for municipalities to fix the leaks in their water distribution systems. These losses are 33% on average across Gauteng municipalities, and approximately 45% in eThekwini. This compares to the international norm of 15%. In addition, the awareness of residents and businesses in Gauteng and businesses in Gauteng and KZN regarding the need to use water sparingly must be raised.”

--SABC--