Note to Editors: The following address was delivered by DA Federal Leader, John Steenhuisen MP, at a press conference in Johannesburg today
It is with a sense of urgency that I address you today on the water crisis in South Africa, generally, and Johannesburg specifically.
Two months ago the South Hills Water Tower, right here, had outages affecting water supply to residents of ward 56 and 57, including schools, old age homes and an orphanage, for a period of two weeks.
Nationally, from Matjhabeng, to Lekwa, to eThekwini, to Makhanda to Umzimvubu to Mangaung, daily outages are the norm, and in many areas of our country some have not had water for months, despite having the necessary infrastructure.
In Mpumalanga, 70% of homes have experienced water outages lasting longer than 2 days.
Nationally, 36% of homes experience water outages lasting longer than 2 days, yet in the Western Cape only 3% of homes experience outages.
This is data from 2023. Since then the situation in places like Gauteng has got much worse. The decline has been dramatic from a Province that used to be the second most reliable provider of water after the Western Cape.
I don’t need to tell you how bad it is here in Gauteng.
Instead, I want to tell you one person’s story; Portia Mankge, a single mother of four children in Vergenoeg informal settlement outside Atteridgeville, without a job, who uses her social grant to buy water. There is a municipal water tank outside her home but it is always empty. So, she and the residents buy water from people who sell it illegally in the street, at R5 for 20 litres.
Her R300 a month grant must feed 5 people, and now buy water too. Water, that is her democratic right. Portia is one of many South Africans desperate for their local governments to do the basics: provide water, as they are supposed to.
Across the Country, local government Councillors come under tremendous pressure to resolve water related issues. In most cases, the solutions are out of their control, as the source of the problem is the senior leadership who failed to plan and implement proper water management in their towns and cities.
Earlier this year a task team, led by the deputy president, was assembled. To date, no noticeable interventions have been initiated, as residents face worsening outages and millions of rands continue to be lost through water leaks and illegal connections. Just yesterday I read that in the south of Johannesburg, in region G, the city losses R60 million per year, primarily due to illegal connections.
A recent DA oversight inspection in the Alfred Nzo District Municipality of the Eastern Cape has revealed a humanitarian crisis. We found contaminated wells and rivers, people sharing water sources with animals and an abandoned Water Treatment Plant.
The Free State’s Kopanong Municipality has been reported to have active sewerage leaks in Bethulie and Springfontein prompting The South African Human Rights Commission to call for urgent intervention from Kopanong Municipality and the provincial government.
Separately, we wrote to the Human Rights Commission in April this year on the national water crisis, and the matter was escalated to their National Legal Services Unit. But since then we’ve heard nothing. Today we will follow-up to insist that they treat this matter with the urgency it deserves.
Free State and the North West’s water boards face bankruptcy in the next 6 months due to the failure of local municipalities to pay for bulk supply. South African municipalities face significant challenges with bulk water debt, which totals over R22.4 billion nationally.
Make no mistake, we are in a crisis that has already cost – and will cost more – human lives, if we don’t act now.
Two weeks ago the President declared a state of disaster over the spate of food borne illnesses and deaths across the country. We cannot move from crisis to crisis, throwing our hands up in despair. We do not accept dry taps as our new normal.
There is hope. We can change the ending to this story. Everything required to fix this crisis is already available.
It will however take a collaborative approach at all levels of government. It cannot be a “local government issue”. Provincial Government and National Government all have a role to play, as do industry stakeholders, and more private-public partnerships.
With your vote, we can bring real long-term solutions to the water crisis elsewhere in the country.
Earlier this year, the Auditor-General confirmed, once again, that the DA is the most responsible party at municipal level. With 19 clean audits, DA municipalities proved that they use public funds the best. 63% of DA municipalities achieved clean audits – far and away the highest achievers nationally.
In 2023, the City of Cape Town announced they would allocate R10,9 billion towards infrastructure. This is the biggest spend of any metro in South Africa. Poor planning on the part of many local municipalities has resulted in aged infrastructure, with inadequate budget to effect proper repairs and maintenance.
Where the DA governs, we deliver.
We partner with the private sector and do what it takes to give South Africans what they need: jobs and inclusive economic growth.
Simply put: we care. And we want to help.
We have a plan to:
- Involve private companies in water infrastructure projects.
- Work towards developing water-sensitive cities that optimise stormwater and urban waterways for improved flood control and water reuse, as well as wastewater.
- Develop water-wise citizens.
- Adopt a scientific method in assessing the risks related to chemical pollution.
- Consider a dedicated grant for water infrastructure maintenance.
- Fast-track dam and water treatment works infrastructure development and maintenance.
Failing to plan, is planning to fail. Populations grow, cities and towns must plan for future demand. After the 2018 drought which affected the Western Cape, and Cape Town in particular, the city embarked on an ambitious plan to ensure the city had access to sufficient water and reduced its reliance on rain water by introducing a 3 pronged approach including a ground water aquifer, use of a state of the art treatment plant, and desalination of seawater. This is the kind of planning all municipalities should be implementing.
We want to protect our nation’s most precious natural resource. Our country’s future is at stake. And securing that future depends on you: we do not have a constitutional mandate to fix water issues where we don’t govern.
We can only start to make a dent in the national water crisis with your vote in 2026.
This year many of you voted to rescue South Africa, and we’re doing everything we can nationally – through the GNU – to do that.
Portia’s story cannot just be another that we hear – increasingly desensitised. We can turn this around. We can restore the dignity of our people. We can guarantee their basic human rights.
It won’t be easy and it won’t be quick. But, as South Africans, we don’t expect it to be.
What we do expect, is our collective best effort.
And I believe that with your vote, with your confidence, together we can rescue South Africa from the national water crisis.