President Cyril Ramaphosa delivering the 2025 State of the Nation Address (Sona) at Cape Town City Hall on Thursday night in Cape Town. Picture: GCIS
South Africa’s water infrastructure is in critical condition, with municipalities across the country struggling to maintain basic water services.
President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation’s critical water infrastructure crisis during the State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Thursday, acknowledging the urgent need for comprehensive water resource management.
Speaking before parliament, Ramaphosa emphasised the severe challenges facing municipalities and outlined an ambitious plan to revitalise water infrastructure across South Africa.
The president highlighted the stark reality facing many cities and towns, where water and electricity supply is frequently disrupted, and basic municipal services have deteriorated.
“In many cities and towns across the country, roads are not maintained, water and electricity supply is often disrupted, refuse is not collected, and sewage runs in the streets,” Ramaphosa stated, pointing to the fundamental failures of local government systems.
To combat these challenges, he said the government is preparing to launch significant interventions.
He also promised that the government would invest more than R940 billion in infrastructure over the next three years, with R375 billion allocated to state-owned companies.
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The president revealed a comprehensive strategy to address the water crisis, including engaging local and international financial institutions to unlock R100 billion in infrastructure financing.
During his speech, he revealed that through the Infrastructure Fund, 12 blended finance projects worth nearly R38 billion had been approved in the past year, with a specific focus on water and sanitation projects.
One of the most significant projects highlighted is the Polihlali Dam, which will feed 490 million cubic metres of water annually from the Lesotho Highlands into the Vaal River System.
This project is said to be crucial for securing water supply to several provinces for years to come.
Ramaphosa emphasised the critical nature of water infrastructure, stating, “It is impossible to live without water and it is impossible for the economy to grow without water.”
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The scale of the water crisis was starkly illustrated by revelations from the Democratic Alliance (DA) about the Emfuleni Local Municipality.
Kingsol Chabalala, DA Emfuleni North Constituency Head, exposed massive water losses totalling over R3 billion in the past five financial years.
“This is unacceptable and points to the long-persisted lack of effective management and sustainable solutions to the municipality’s water crisis,” Chabalala declared.
According to official figures, the municipality’s water losses have been substantial: R601.8 million in 2019/2020, escalating to R836.2 million in 2023/2024.
Despite spending only R140.8 million on infrastructure upgrades, the municipality has continued to suffer from decaying infrastructure and persistent water outages.
Ramaphosa outlined several key initiatives to address the water crisis, including the establishment of a National Water Resource Infrastructure Agency within the next year. The government plans to introduce a licensing system for water service providers through the Water Services Amendment Bill, with the power to remove licenses from providers failing to meet drinking water quality standards.
The president remains optimistic about addressing these challenges, emphasising the need for collaborative efforts. “Working together with business, labour and other social partners we must now finish this work,” Ramaphosa stated, signaling a comprehensive approach to resolving the nation’s water infrastructure challenges.
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Wayne Duvenage from the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) offered a critical and comprehensive analysis of the government’s water infrastructure strategy, expressing both cautious optimism and significant reservations about the proposed interventions.
While acknowledging the potential of the R23 billion allocation for water infrastructure, Duvenage emphasised the critical need for transparency.
“The R23 billion will go a long way to address new water infrastructure needs, however we sincerely hope the procurement process will be transparent and will not see overspending due to corruption or maladministration, which is a common occurrence in Government capex projects,” he warned.
Duvenage welcomed the proposed National Water Resource Infrastructure Agency, but with important cautions.
He stressed the importance of preventing the agency from becoming another bureaucratic inefficiency.
“The Water Resource infrastructure agency is a welcome addition, however we hope this will not become another inefficient bureaucratic entity,” he cautioned, highlighting the persistent challenges of governmental institutional performance.
A key recommendation from Duvenage was the urgent need to introduce private sector expertise into water management systems.
He proposed a radical restructuring of waste water treatment processes, suggesting that sewage and sanitation fees collected from residents should be ring-fenced and allocated to public-private partnerships for more effective management.
Community oversight was another critical aspect of Duvenage’s recommendations. “Communities need to also be included in the oversight of Waste Water Treatment plants,” he emphasised.
“We need to keep municipalities out of the control and management of these systems, which they have proven their incompetence to manage.”
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Duvenage was particularly scathing about the historical leadership failures in water infrastructure management. He specifically called out former minister Nomvula Mokonyane, arguing that her poor leadership had significantly delayed critical water security projects like the Lesotho Highlands Water Project.
“The root cause of most of the issues and crises that we face today is the result of poor planning and lack of accountability of leaders who lack vision and long-term planning, with many simply being out of touch with what is required to manage these environments,” Duvenage argued.
Beyond criticism, Duvenage proposed concrete accountability mechanisms. He called for city and municipal managers to be criminally charged, arrested, and fined for their failure to maintain water treatment infrastructure.
While Duvenage’s critique offered a harsh assessment of governmental approaches, another water expert provided an even more granular examination of the proposed water infrastructure interventions.
Sustainable Solutions (CBSS) water governance expert Carin Bosman provided a nuanced critique of the government’s water crisis intervention strategy, highlighting gaps in the proposed solutions.
While acknowledging some positive intentions, Bosman expressed disappointment with the depth and practicality of the proposed measures.
Bosman raised specific concerns about the proposed establishment of professionally managed utilities, noting that this approach should not be universally applied.
“The need for utility establishment should be determined on a case-by-case basis,” she emphasised, pointing out that existing utilities like Joburg Water already face substantial challenges.
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The expert was particularly critical of the proposed licensing system for water service providers.
She argued that multiple regulatory frameworks already exist, including systems for water abstraction, water care works registration, and drinking water quality standards.
“Threatening to ‘remove licenses’ when standards are not being met will not ensure those standards are met,” Bosman argued.
Furthermore, she warned of potential unintended consequences such as continued substandard water supply or complete service interruption.
The water governance expert also highlighted the critical need for private sector involvement, suggesting that companies should publish “water footprint statements” similar to financial reports.
She proposed a “Water Conservation and Demand Regulation” framework that would incentivise water conservation through reduced charges for meeting targets and penalties for water wastage.
Another key recommendation from Bosman was community involvement, particularly of women. She stressed the importance of empowering community women in water development projects and recognised their traditional roles in water collection and hygiene education.
In her summary assessment, Bosman concluded that Ramaphosa’s water crisis plan was insufficient.
She called for more comprehensive measures, including holding municipal managers accountable, implementing water consumption reporting, overhauling water licensing systems, ensuring public transparency, addressing environmental challenges like dam siltation, and adopting science-based regulatory decision-making.
“In addition, I would have love to see something in the Sona about the importance of the reuse of wastewater and funding for research into alternative sanitation technologies and water-saving plumbing systems, leak fixing, etc.,” Bosman concluded.
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