Johannesburg Water (JW) has, since its inception two years ago, made significant strides towards improving service delivery throughout the city.
However, your correspondent, Ebrahim Harvey, (”Opaque transparency in water privatisation”, August 8) continues to resurrect issues that have been settled a long time ago, using arguments that are at odds with the truth.
Harvey’s main objection is that he has been denied access to vital information pertaining to the five-year management contract signed by JW and the Johannesburg Water Management Company.
He then goes on to imply that we have not complied with the Promotion of Access to Information Act and threatens to take JW to the High Court or the Constitutional Court. Harvey, however, fails to mention that he has had full access to volumes of JW documents, running into more than 10 000 pages, to assist him in his ”research”.
This was done despite the fact that Harvey’s requests did not comply with the procedures set out in the Act, nor did he pay the prescribed administrative fees.
Surely Harvey should enlighten his readers about the countless hours he spent ”interviewing” senior officials of JW in his efforts to find evidence against it? He himself made tape recordings of these discussions — spanning a period of more than 12 months — and is at liberty to release them.
The facts are that JW went beyond the requirements of the Act to assist Harvey. This was also conveyed in detail to the Freedom of Expression Institute in a letter dated April 15 2003.
As a public utility JW is committed to openness and transparency. We have never denied access to information to any legitimate researcher; at least three other researchers, including students from Wits, have used the utility as a case study.
We are, indeed, proud of our achievements over the past two years and have committed to continue our efforts to provide quality water at affordable rates for all the people of Johannesburg.
Drinking water quality has improved to a 99,4 % compliance in terms of bacteriological quality — way above the South African Bureau of Standards’s 95%. The residents of Johannesburg have access to the best quality water that can be found in any major city in the world.
The level of effluent treatment at JW’s wastewater treatment works is very high and surpasses the standards set by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry.
The average response time to technical complaints regarding water-pipe bursts and sewer overflows has been shortened by 40%. Major bursts and overflows are fixed within 24 hours.
Ninety percent of the incoming calls at our water helpline are answered within 30 seconds.
This is not a bad track record for a utility that supplies the city with more than 440-million kilolitres of water each year and has to look after and maintain more than 9 500km of water distribution pipes and an equal length in sewer collection pipes.
JW is equally proud of its record in delivering on its mandate to supply each and every household with 6 000 litres of free water every month — in terms of government policy on basic rights.
However, we do not rest on our laurels and very soon we will embark on an ambitious project to upgrade and rehabilitate a large section of the reticulation network in Greater Soweto, replacing it with new pipes and fixtures in households, where required.
This project will bring significant benefits to the people of Soweto in terms of their ability to manage the consumption of water and to control their costs. For the city — and indeed the entire country — it will mean substantial savings of this very scarce resource.
Contrary to Harvey’s vexatious litanies Johannesburg’s water company is, indeed, a responsible utility committed to excellence in service delivery.
Any independent and unbiased commentator should be able to reach the same conclusion.
Jameel Chand is the communications manager for Johannesburg Water.