South Africa’s water boards in trouble
South Africa’s water boards and infrastructure face many challenges, including mismanagement, financial irregularities, funding shortages, and improper maintenance.
These challenges have cumulated into South Africa’s severe water crisis, which has left several parts of the country without water for days.
The issues facing South Africa’s water boards were recently brought to the forefront with a Parliamentary question from BOSA leader and MP Mmusi Maimane.
Maimane asked the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pemmy Majodina, how many individuals have been held accountable for embezzling public funds meant for water delivery in light of the mismanagement and financial irregularities plaguing South Africa’s water boards.
She responded that a total of 13 individuals have been held accountable for embezzling public funds at Lepelle Northern Water and Amatola Water Boards.
She added that Magalies Water, Overberg Water, Rand Water, and uMngeni-uThukela Water have no reported cases of mismanagement or financial irregularities.
Of these 13 people, two were chief executives of the water boards, and many other senior officials and managers were implicated.
Ten of these individuals were dismissed from the boards, while disciplinary proceedings are underway for two. The last individual resigned pending the finalisation of their hearing.
The Department of Water and Sanitation explains on its website that government-owned water boards play a key role in the South African water sector. South Africa’s 15 water boards report to the department.
“They operate dams, bulk water supply infrastructure, some retail infrastructure and some wastewater systems,” the department explains.
“Some also provide technical assistance to municipalities. Through their role in the operation of dams, they also play an important role in water resource management.”
In November 2024, the Department of Water and Sanitation warned that two of the country’s water boards are facing bankruptcy due to massive municipal debts.
The department explained that the issue stems from water boards being funded solely by municipal payments for water services. Therefore, when municipalities fail to pay, the water boards face financial collapse.
Funding problems
Water boards facing bankruptcy are only the tip of the iceberg for South Africa’s water crisis.
Former Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu said in August 2023 that South Africa needs to spend around R90 billion a year over a decade to upgrade its water and sanitation infrastructure to meet the country’s growing population.
This equates to R900 billion needed over the next decade to address the country’s water crisis, which is largely in line with expert estimates of R1 trillion.
Water scientist Dr Anthony Turton previously said South Africa needs to invest R1 trillion to repair its deteriorating water infrastructure and upgrade it to ensure it can meet the growing demand of the country’s population.
He explained that water outages experienced across the country are not due to a lack of water but rather the failure to get water from bulk suppliers to where it is consumed.
“If you look at the amount of capital needed to fix what is broken, there is no way that the taxpayer can carry that cost,” he said.
DA MP Stephen James Moore recently asked Water Minister Majodina whether the figure Mchunu gave still holds true and, if so, how her department will source this funding, considering South Africa’s fiscal constraints.
He also asked whether her department would seek to engage the private sector in raising capital for infrastructure building.
In her response, Majodina said the projected costs will likely rise over time due to factors such as inflation, material prices, and global volatility affecting supply chains.
As part of addressing this, she said the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is working on maximising funding resources within the water sector.
This will be done through enhanced collaborative efforts with Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) and the National Department of Human Settlements.
She said this cooperation will align all appropriated grant funding for water services across the three departments for a greater impact on improving service delivery.
Majodina added that inroads are also being made in terms of leveraging private-sector finance to supplement the funding required for many of our water resource infrastructure projects.
“The country requires an ongoing and sustained mega water resource infrastructure build programme to effectively operate and maintain existing assets and to ensure water security in the future,” she said.
“However, due to fiscal constraints, DWS cannot rely on significant fiscal support to develop the required infrastructure, and the private sector has a significant role to play in this space.”
Efforts being made
In his 2025 State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the government has secured R23 billion for seven large water infrastructure projects.
“Like we did with electricity, I know, and I am hopeful, that we will resolve the water crisis that we have,” he said. “We will ensure our focus on water is intensive, and it will speed up.”
He said the government is taking “decisive actions” to resolve the country’s water crisis. This includes, amongst other initiatives, investing heavily in the country’s water resources.
Therefore, the president announced that, to date, the government’s Infrastructure Fund has secured R23 billion for seven large water infrastructure projects.
In addition, he said the government has worked to end delays in major water infrastructure projects and prepare for the construction of new projects.
He added that establishing the National Water Resource Infrastructure Agency will be completed by the end of the year and help unlock much greater investment in water projects.
Through the Water Services Amendment Bill, the government will also introduce a licensing system for water service providers and remove licenses where providers don’t meet the relevant standards.
Comments