By Johnathan Paoli
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday night elevated South Africa’s deepening water crisis to the top of the national agenda, announcing the establishment of a National Water Crisis Committee that he will personally chair and vowing to hold failing municipalities and managers criminally accountable.
Delivering his 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Cape Town, Ramaphosa said water had become one of the most urgent issues facing communities across the country.
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“In addition to crime, water is now the single most important issue for many people in South Africa, from large cities like Johannesburg to smaller towns like Knysna and rural areas like Giyani,” he said.
His remarks come amid widespread outages and protests, particularly in Gauteng, where residents have taken to the streets over prolonged disruptions.
The City of Johannesburg is the latest metro to experience severe water shortages.
“We have all seen the pain that our people have been expressing through demonstrations in various parts of Gauteng. These protests have been fueled by frustrations over inadequate and unreliable access to basic services such as water,” Ramaphosa said.
According to the President, some immediate technical interventions are under way.
“They informed me that the pipes that had been damaged are being repaired and the reservoirs are filling up again,” he said.
But Ramaphosa conceded that the roots of the crisis run far deeper than isolated infrastructure failures.
“Poor planning and inadequate maintenance of water systems by many municipalities are the main cause of the problems we are going through now and are the reason that taps often run dry,” he said.
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To address long-term water security, Ramaphosa said the government is investing heavily in bulk infrastructure.
“We have committed more than R156 billion in public funding for water and sanitation infrastructure alone over the next three years,” he said.
He cited progress on strategic projects, including the construction of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project and other large-scale projects like the Ntabelanga Dam, part of the Mzimvubu Water Project in the Eastern Cape, as “advancing”.
He added the government is in the final stages of establishing a National Water Resource Infrastructure Agency to effectively manage the country’s water infrastructure and to mobilise funding for water infrastructure.
To tighten oversight, he pointed to pending legislative reforms, namely the Water Services Amendment Bill which would enable the government to hold water service providers accountable for their performance and withdraw their license if they fail to deliver.
“If a municipality is not willing or able to provide a service to its residents, it must be done by another structure that can,” Ramaphosa said.
In the short term, the President signalled a more aggressive, centralised response modelled on the government’s approach to load shedding.
“In the short term, we need to address the immediate crisis where water outages are being experienced right now. Three years ago, when we were experiencing daily power cuts, we established the National Energy Crisis Committee to enable a focused national response. We overcame what seemed like an insurmountable challenge by adopting a clear plan and delivering on it,” he said.
The President said that using the same approach, he will now elevate the government’s response to the water crisis to a formal National Water Crisis Committee, which he will chair.
“This structure will bring together all existing efforts into a single coordinating body. It will deploy technical experts and resources from the national government to municipalities facing water challenges. It will ensure that action is taken swiftly and effectively to address the problem,” Ramaphosa said.
The President made clear that constitutional intervention powers would be used where necessary.
“To address the challenges effectively we will not hesitate to use the powers enshrined in the Constitution and in the Water Services Act to intervene in municipalities where necessary. We will hold to account those who neglect their responsibility to supply water to our people,” he said.
Ramaphosa confirmed that the government has already laid criminal charges against 56 municipalities that have failed to meet their obligations, and are expected to lay charges against municipal managers in their personal capacity for violating the National Water Act.
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He also criticised financial mismanagement at the local level.
“The critical problem is that in many metros, cities and towns, water revenue is being used for other purposes and very little is invested in upgrading and maintaining water infrastructure,” he said.
To address this, and in line with his commitment made during last year’s SONA, Ramaphosa stressed the new R54 billion incentive for metros to reform their water, sanitation and electricity services, which are expected to ensure that revenues from water usage are put into fixing pipes, reservoirs and pumping stations.
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