JSE-listed REIT, Redefine Properties, which has experienced water shortages of up to 10 days at time at some of its assets, believes even further water challenges loom due to ailing infrastructure and lack of capacity at municipalities.
This comes as Rand Water yesterday began maintenance on its Palmiet and Mapleton systems – scheduled to completed on July 29 – and which was expected to result in water interruptions in Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Govan Mbeki, Johannesburg, Lesedi, Madibeng, Mogale City, Merafong City, Rand West City, Rustenburg, Thembisile Hani, and Victor Khanye municipalities.
Redefine, which owns about R70 billion of commercial, industrial and retail properties mostly in South Africa, said yesterday while its previous focus on water was to reduce consumption, it was now developing further storage capacity to provide a five-day buffer at certain buildings in case of a major water outage.
Redefine’s sustainability project manager Victor Mathey said in some parts of the country, water shortages had increased in frequency, with water supplies cut off for up to 10 days in a row or more.
“Experts blame the issues on municipalities; underdeveloped infrastructure; and lack of infrastructure maintenance; which is impacting supply networks,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lesotho’s Katse Dam, part of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project and which provides critical water supply to regions across South Africa is scheduled to undergo maintenance beginning in September and continuing until March, 2025.
The Vaal River system and the Sterkfontein Dam were expected to have enough water in storage to last for the six-month period, according to the City of Johannesburg and industry participants, as the maintenance at Katse Dam was scheduled for the summer period.
“Even so, there continues to be massive under-supply, particularly in Gauteng. It’s water-supply issues stem from a nine-year delay in the Lesotho Highlands Water Project Phase 2, exacerbated by a rising population. Until the project is completed in 2029, the province will face periodic water outages, as demand surpasses supply,” said Mathey.
Currently, the group’s installed storage capacity was 6 660kL. However, to achieve a five-day buffer at current water consumption-levels, a 38 000kL capacity was required.
He said the under-supply did not only impact areas like Sandton, Rosebank, and Bedfordview, but also rural areas with inferior water infrastructure.
Redefine’s previous water-reduction initiatives have seen a 165 million litre reduction in consumption across its SA portfolio over the past two financial years.
This had far-exceeded their initial reduction targets of 74 million litres year on year, and it had demonstrated that interventions such as the rollout of water-efficient toilets, and smart-metering installations were beginning to bear fruit, said Johann Nell, head of development and industrial asset management at Redefine.
He said Redefine’s interventions sat mostly at an operational-level, including monitoring and proactively managing consumption, especially at big buildings where there were often leaks, running toilets, dripping taps, and leaky irrigation systems.
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