Despite water access rising from 55% in 1994 to 90% in 2026, millions of South Africans still face unreliable and unsafe water supplies.
The Department of Water and Sanitation has outlined a multi-pronged response but admits that the gap between available funding and what is actually needed remains wide.
Crisis hidden behind improved access numbers
South Africa’s water story is a tale of two realities.
On paper, access to basic water services has improved dramatically in the past three decades.
But behind that statistic, a different picture has emerged – one in which households with pipes and infrastructure still lack a safe, consistent water supply.
The department recently acknowledged the deterioration, noting a “notable decline in the reliability and quality of municipal water supply, with many households experiencing inconsistent or unsafe water despite having infrastructure in place”.
In response, the department said it has introduced a range of immediate stabilisation measures, particularly targeting rural and historically underserved communities.
More than R60 billion a year, but R400 billion backlog remains
The government’s primary lever is financial.
More than R60 billion is allocated annually to water services authorities (WSAs) through a combination of water and sanitation grants, equitable share allocations for free basic water to indigent households, and infrastructure grants administered by both DWS and the Department of Cooperative Governance.
These include the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG), the Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG), the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG), and, for metropolitan municipalities, the Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG).
The department has prioritised the 105 worst-performing WSAs, as identified through its Blue and Green Drop reporting system.
“Over the past five years, approximately R30 billion has been directed to these municipalities to restore infrastructure functionality and reliability,” the department stated.
However, that investment has not been enough to close the gap.
The scale of the problem is staggering.
The department estimated that the national infrastructure backlog is R400 billion, compared with R12.3 billion allocated for RBIG and WSIG in the 2025-26 financial year.
Where municipalities are failing to perform, DWS said it is “increasingly utilising indirect grant mechanisms, enabling the department to deploy implementing agents such as water boards to implement projects in non-performing municipalities.”
Bringing in the private sector
With public funding falling far short, the department has turned to the private sector to help fill the gap.
DWS, the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), and the South African Local Government Association (Salga) have jointly established a Water Partnerships Office to help WSAs develop viable, bankable project proposals that can attract private investment.
The department noted that “the private sector has expressed interest in investing in municipal water and sanitation infrastructure, provided that municipalities develop bankable projects.”
Blended financing projects are already underway in Limpopo and the Northern Cape.
Although the department conceded that “progress has been slowed by lengthy municipal decision-making processes.”
It said a flagship example of this model is the planned Vaal Corporation Water Utility, a jointly owned entity between Rand Water and Emfuleni Local Municipality.
Furthermore, the department said the entity “is planned for establishment by July 2026 following approval by the minister of finance”.
Additionally, it stated that it would operate under a long-term concession arrangement.
Holding metros accountable with a R54 billion incentive
National Treasury has introduced a new R54 billion performance-based incentive grant for metropolitan municipalities, called the Trading Services Grant, effective from the 2025/26 municipal financial year.
The department noted that access to the funding is conditional on metros implementing water and sanitation turnaround plans and demonstrating measurable progress.
To qualify, metros must ring-fence revenue from water sales, create a single point of accountability for the water services provider, and reduce non-revenue water losses.
The department noted that metros must also show “improving performance across a range of indicators affecting water and sanitation services.”
Alongside the grant mechanism, DWS has tabled the Water Services Amendment Bill in Parliament, describing it as aimed at “addressing the systemic causes of water supply problems at [the] municipal level.”
Groundwater and rural interventions
For communities without municipal infrastructure altogether, the department is pursuing a separate rural water supply programme centred on boreholes, protected springs and household rainwater harvesting.
As part of a broader Nationwide Groundwater Programme, DWS is rolling out what it describes as “an emergency intervention to address water shortages in unserved communities lacking municipal infrastructure.”
The department said it has “developed a community needs list in consultation with municipalities and is conducting site verifications to inform provincial implementation strategies and funding models, in partnership with the private sector.”
Cracking down on non-compliance and alleged sabotage
Regulatory enforcement has been bolstered through the revival of the Blue Drop, Green Drop and No Drop assessment programmes.
Municipalities found non-compliant are required to implement Corrective Action Plans, which DWS actively monitors.
“Where there is continued non-compliance, enforcement measures are applied, including directives and legal action where necessary,” the department stated.
However, it said that a more troubling issue has also surfaced, referring to allegations that water tanker operators may be deliberately sabotaging municipal infrastructure to sustain their contracts.
To address these concerns, the department said it was “encouraging water services authorities to insource water carting services,” and was explicit that “water carting should only be used as a temporary, last-resort measure when conventional piped water systems have failed.”
Five-year plans to bring long-term order
Underpinning all of these interventions is a national programme to develop Five-Year Reliable Water and Sanitation Services Delivery Plans for each WSA.
The plans are designed to identify priority areas for intervention.
These include infrastructure functionality, water security, governance gaps, and new-build requirements, and they feed directly into municipal Water Services Development Plans.
The department described the plans as improving “prioritisation, sequencing and long-term sustainability of interventions.”
As part of this process, a project pipeline has been developed to address unreliable services, with implementation linked directly to the WSIG and RBIG grants.
DWS added that it is “providing extensive project planning support to help municipalities develop bankable projects that can access blended finance funding”.
