South Africa’s water system faces total collapse

The Association of Water and Sanitation Institutions of South Africa (AWSISA) called for urgent intervention to prevent the total collapse of the country’s water system.

Last week, it released a statement, saying many stakeholders mistakenly blame water boards for South Africa’s water crisis.

“The current crisis stems not from water boards but from the widespread collapse of municipal governance and service delivery,” AWSISA said.

The poor municipal governance and service delivery have left several communities without water for days or weeks.

It explained that water boards are self-funding and receive no government bailouts or operational grants. Municipalities benefit from multiple infrastructure-related grants.

“Despite this, water boards are owed over R28 billion by municipalities that have failed to pay for the bulk water they procure,” it said.

Apart from the non-payment, one of the most significant problems is that municipalities are water service authorities and have appointed themselves as water service providers.

However, these municipalities lack the technical, managerial, and financial capacity to serve as water providers.

More than 100 municipalities are dysfunctional, with failing infrastructure, poor water quality, and ineffective use of water-related grants.

Billions of rands in infrastructure funding are returned to the fiscus annually due to failure to spend, further eroding public trust and worsening the crisis.

Water Boards continue to assist municipalities, providing technical support, emergency water, and infrastructure guidance.

Water boards have proposed a public-private special purpose vehicle (SPV) model to address South Africa’s water crisis.

This would enable Water Boards, municipalities, and the private sector to collaborate on effective, transparent, and sustainable water service delivery.

This model has received in-principle support from many municipalities and endorsement from the Department of Water and Sanitation. It awaits concurrence from the National Treasury.

AWSISA Deputy Chair, Ndweleni Mphephu, told ENCA that poor municipal water infrastructure causes some municipalities to lose up to 40% of their water to leaks.

Many municipalities also face challenges with illegal water connections and infrastructure vandalism, hurting their water systems.

Ware expert Anthony Turton warned that South Africa faces many localised day-zero events at the national level, leaving millions of South Africans without water.

“Central to that is the failure of municipal governance. To start demonising water boards is an act of sabotage and self-inflicted harm,” he said.

“You are committing national suicide. You are hastening the onset of a national water disaster in South Africa.”

Turton supports AWSISA’s public-private partnership proposal, saying Rand Water has already successfully pioneered it.

“They bring the company’s act into the municipal environment through a special purpose vehicle,” he explained.

“This system frustrates the ability of thieves to steal the money. That is the central part of any turnaround strategy.”