Johannesburg Water
| The Challenge Consolidate six separate water services departments, each with fragmented management and operations, into a new service utility known as Johannesburg Water. The Solution Our JOWAM consortium was awarded the five-year management contract to drive the transformation and capacitating of the utility and ensure an effective, sustainable business unit. Cost-effective universal access to public health and restoration of environmental integrity were also high priorities. |
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| Achievements The mandate from the City of Johannesburg has been achieved: * The Financial Turnaround Plan – including new business strategies, detailed work plans and procedures – was systematically and successfully implemented * A successful company re-engineering – integrating 2 700 employees and 22 departments * The Master Plan – defining the infrastructure refurbishment and extension requirements to cope with increasing service delivery demands, especially in low income areas * Improved service coverage – 98% for water distribution and 94% for wastewater services. Over 80% of water network repairs are conducted within 48 hours and over 80% of sewers are unblocked within 24 hours * A new call centre – giving immediate incident identification and reduced intervention times. Over 90% of calls are answered in less than 30 seconds * Efficient water distribution, improved quality and monitoring (bacteriological compliance >99%) * Wastewater capacity increased – quality compliance improving from 82% to 98%. 100% sludge disposal compliance, up from 50% * Effective maintenance and preventative programmes introduced * Reduced chemicals and electricity consumption * Water tariff encompassing free basic water as per Council policy and improved payment policies and customer relationship management, including community awareness, billing, customer management and revenue collection * Extensive training, capacity building, technical and business management skills transfer to Johannesburg Water personnel through a change management and training programme * Successful transformation of the utility – 93% of the promoted and appointed employees of historically disadvantaged origin and supply chain management taking into account affirmative procurement |
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