2021 Local Election Factsheet: Water in South Africa
This factsheet breaks down the numbers about water access - who has access to water, who doesn't, what problems do South Africans experience with water delivery, water delivery issues in metros and what water access looked like in 1994.
With South Africa’s sixth municipal elections since the first democratic elections in 1994 approaching, political parties are vying for voters.
In the new elections, set for November 1, 2021, voting South Africans will elect district, metropolitan and local municipal councils for the country’s nine provinces.
Municipalities are responsible for delivering services, including supplying water. Access to drinkable water is a human right in South Africa. This factsheet breaks down the numbers about water access.
1. Who has access to water?
In 2019, 88.2% of households in South Africa had access to “an improved source of water”. This was an increase from 2002, when 84.4% had access.
Piped, or tap, water in a dwelling or a yard, or water from a neighbour’s or public tap less than 200 metres away, is included in this category.
Many provinces saw a drop in access to water from 2002 to 2019. The most notable was Mpumalanga, where household access to water dropped from 90.5% to 85.2%.
Gauteng (97.6%) and the Western Cape (98.5%) had the highest share of households with access to tap water in 2019. Limpopo and the Eastern Cape, both with figures in the seventies, had the lowest percentages.
2. Who doesn’t have access to water?
An estimated 13.7% of black African headed households did not have access to piped water. Households headed by people who identified as white followed, at 6%.
3. What problems do South Africans experience with water delivery?
Almost 26% of South African households reported “some dysfunctional water supply service” in 2019. This included a water interruption of two days at a time, or 15 days in total.
Households in Limpopo (56.6%) and Mpumalanga (54.5%) reported the highest share of interruptions, while households in Western Cape (4,6%) and Gauteng (9.5%) had the fewest interruptions.
4. Water delivery issues in metros
Households in Manguang (31.5%) and Buffalo City (30.6%) had the highest percentage of reported water interruptions.
Just 5.2 % of households in Ekurhuleni and Cape Town reported water interruptions– the lowest of the eight metros.
5. What did water access look like in 1994?
South Africa’s 1996 census is probably the “earliest credible data” on water access. An estimated 81.2% of households had access to piped water in 1996, according to the census.
Statistics from the early 1990s should be compared with caution to more recent figures. This is because of differences in sampling, methodology and definitions.
Also see: 2021 Local Election Factsheet: Electricity in South Africa
