The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), in collaboration with the Vaal-Orange Catchment Management Agency, has proposed new raw water abstraction tariffs for the 2025/26 financial year. These changes will impact domestic and industrial water users, as well as the irrigation and forestry sectors.

During a three-day public consultation from July 23 to 26, 2024, held in Klerksdorp (North West), Bethlehem (Free State), and Pretoria (Gauteng), the Gauteng DWS presented the proposed tariffs to water user stakeholders. The Vaal-Orange Water Management Area (WMA), which includes the Vaal and Orange rivers, spans Mpumalanga, Gauteng, North West, Free State, Eastern Cape, and Northern Cape.

The Vaal-Orange WMA also plays a significant role in international water sharing, affecting countries such as Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Eswatini. For the 2025/26 financial year, a tariff of 1.98c/m3 has been proposed for domestic and industrial users in the Orange WMA, marking a 5% increase from last year’s 1.89c/m3. The tariff for the Vaal WMA will remain unchanged at 3.11c/m3.

Tariffs for the irrigation sector in both the Vaal and Orange WMAs will stay at 2.64c/m3 and 1.15c/m3, respectively, with charges capped by the April Producer Price Index (PPI) of 5.1% for charges exceeding 1.5c/m3 from the previous year. Similarly, the 2.64c/m3 tariff for the forestry sector will remain unchanged, capped at R10/ha plus PPI.

The consultations aimed to gather input from various stakeholders within the water sector, including municipalities, before final approval of the proposed charges by the Water and Sanitation Minister, as mandated by the National Water Act.

Additionally, the DWS has proposed tariff increases for waste discharge into water resources. These are determined by the department’s Waste Discharge Charge System, which aims to promote sustainable development, efficient use of water resources, internalisation of environmental costs by polluters, optimal use of water resources, and cost recovery for mitigating water quality impacts of waste discharge.

For both the Vaal and Orange WMAs, a single tariff of 2.79c/m3 is proposed for the waste-related water resource management charge. This represents a 5% decrease from the previous Vaal WMA tariff and a 27% increase from the previous Orange WMA tariff.

The tariff increases will affect major water users in the industrial, urban, mining, and irrigation sectors within the Vaal-Orange WMA. The mining and irrigated agriculture sectors are the largest economic contributors in the Orange River regions.

These tariffs will also impact the main water boards in the domestic and industrial sectors, namely Rand Water, Magalies Water, and Vaal Central Water, as well as municipalities in Gauteng, Free State, North West, Eastern Cape, and Northern Cape.