The price of water will increase by about 16 cents (to around R3,15 per kilolitre) from July 1, Rand Water said on Wednesday.
Rand Water supplies bulk amounts of water to municipalities across South Africa, and therefore the increase to consumers will vary, said Rand Water chief executive Simo Lushaba in a statement.
”The price of purified water is driven by the cost of raw water, purchased from the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry and by the input involved in purifying,” he said.
Lushaba said the price of raw water had increased by about 5,7% in April 2005 and Rand Water had been absorbing the increase.
The decision of increasing bulk water by 5,3% was reached after consultation with customers, he said.
It complies with the Municipal Finance Management Act, by obtaining inputs from South African Local Government Association and the National Treasury.
”Whilst the increase is lower than what Rand Water required, and lower than the increase of raw water, we agreed to it in line with our commitment to making water cheaper and affordable to our customers,” Lushaba said.
”We have committed to tighten our belts, improve our operating efficiencies so that we can pass on lower price increases to our customers and help to achieve increases that are within inflation target of [the] government.”
The effect of the increase on each household will vary in accordance with individual municipalities mark-ups on the above quoted wholesale price, he said.
Municipalities distribute water to individual households.
Rand Water is a bulk water supplier to municipalities, mining and industries who then in turn supply water to more than 12-million people in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North West and parts of the Free State. – Sapa