By Tswelopele Makoe

SOUTH Africa is facing an imminent water crisis that is quickly rearing its ugly head. For almost two decades, the nation has been contending—not only with incessant power cuts—but also with severe water shortages.

According to the latest United Nations (UN) data, the national population in 2025 will reach about 65 million, and projected to steadily increase. Although water insecurity is oftentimes assumed to be a challenge in rural communities, the World Bank stated that more than 67% of the country’s population is located in urban areas, as of 2023.

Ultimately, this shines a stark light, not only on the perpetual issues surrounding service delivery in South Africa, but especially surrounding the politics of water scarcity, and how the nation is expected to grapple with this.

As climate change intensifies droughts, aging infrastructure continues to crumble, and mismanagement of public services escalate, the country’s once-stable water resources are rapidly depleting. This is especially terrifying in South Africa, where the Institute for Security Studies found that South Africans use more water than the global average, standing at 234 litres per person on a daily basis.

In fact, only two weeks into the new year, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the water crisis was a national emergency, and promised to address various infrastructure issues, and consecutively address the issue of alleged “water mafia” that is sabotaging critical infrastructure.

In cities like Cape Town, once on the brink of Day Zero—where taps were set to run dry—the alarm bells have been sounded once again. Almost seven years later, Cape Town communities are still contending with a new reality—rationing water, relying on dwindling reserves, and battling against an unpredictable climate that leaves them increasingly vulnerable.

In Johannesburg, the nation’s bustling economic hub, various areas have also endured cuts to their water supply, some cuts lasting up to 86 hours. In fact, at the tail-end of last month, the Johannesburg district and multiple residential areas were struck by a total loss of water, and that some residents were frequently left without water services for days on end.

The growing crisis now threatens to have a major impact on the country’s economy, compounding the various other national challenges—such as power blackouts—at the forefront of the national agenda.

The national water crisis is not a newfangled issue. In fact, back in December 2023, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) published a report that found that several water supply systems were operating close to, or beyond their design capacity. In addition to this, monitoring and compliance were severely deficient.

In addition to this, a 2020 report by ESI Africa forewarned us of this crisis, stating: “South Africa is approaching physical water scarcity in 2025 where the country is expected to experience a water deficit of 17% by 2030, and climate change will worsen the situation.”

What compounds this national issue is not merely water supply, but also water quality. The 2023 report by the DWS indicated that almost half (46%) of all water supply systems are fostering acute human health challenges, due to unsafe bacteria and other pathogens in the drinking water supply. In these water supply systems, sewage, bacteria, pollutants and waste is actively contaminating our drinking water supply. Additionally, it reported that 67.6% of all wastewater treatment works are close to complete failure.

Ultimately, the water crisis is an issue that stems beyond basic service delivery and is linked to various public safety issues. Unsafe drinking water is not only about the issue of transmitting diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, hepatitis A, and others. It is also a major concern for the spread of life-altering diseases, various cancers, and some debilitating neurological disorders. Common illnesses across our population, such as heart disease, kidney failure, cholera, and many others, can be attributed to unsafe drinking water.

This crisis is pervasive across our society, and is especially severe when it impacts elderly people, and young children. They are far more susceptible to health challenges that stem from consuming contaminated drinking water.

Although immediate issues such as diarrhoea and cholera can be treated more hastily, however, long-term health challenges such as arsenic poisoning, lead poisoning, liver infections, or stunted brain development, can be debilitating for children, and their entire households. This is especially frightening as Unicef has attributed waterborne diseases as one of the leading causes of death among children under the age of five.

Some areas across the nation have successfully grappled with passing water crises, however, it is pertinent that South African citizens remain vigilant on the health risks related to the water crisis.

The DWS has previously reported that over half of the entire country’s municipalities do not notify water users when they discover that the water has been contaminated. This not only poses a dangerous health risk to citizens but also heightens public safety concerns where water services are concerned.

In fact, the rate of citizens who remain uninformed when water services are interrupted, are a clear-cut sign of the lack of transparency, communication, and accountability by our public service providers. These types of unethical practices are exactly what drove the 2023 Hammanskraal incident, where 31 people died after consuming contaminated municipal water.

The DWS has also previously stated that the national water crisis is a result of a “negative impact on (water) yields arising from climate change, degradation of wetlands and water resources, siltation of dams, whilst water losses and demand are escalating due to population and economic growth, urbanisation, inefficient use, and changing lifestyles”.

Although it is evident that the causes of the water crisis are being investigated, it is clear that not enough is being done to positively address these varying factors. Economic growth and population growth are among some very predictable factors in our society.

Why then is our current leadership, and our public service systems not addressing this accordingly? Why is the action towards addressing climate change to minute? Why are we still lacking in renewable energy and water filtration resources? Why is water pollution still at the back-end of our national agenda?

With the growing scarcity, the need for urgent, transformative action has never been clearer. When it pertains to public services, there are many factors that are beyond the control of the public. Water, an entrenched human right, should not be among these. There is a fundamental responsibility to ensure that all people are protected, as is demanded by our Constitution. The water crisis is a direct threat to public safety, and cannot be treated lightly.

Addressing the national water crisis is crucial for the country's future sustainability. Immediate action is needed to combat water scarcity, improve infrastructure, promote efficient water usage, and improve the quality of the publics water supply. Not only the government, but also businesses, and communities across the nation must steadfastly defend clean and reliable water access.

This is critical not only to our current society, but also to future generations. This is a matter of securing both public health and economic stability. The time to act is now. South Africa certainly stands at a crossroads: act now to address its water crisis, or risk facing an uncertain, parched future.

* Tswelopele Makoe is a gender and social justice activist and editor at Global South Media Network. She is a researcher and columnist, published weekly in the Sunday Independent, Independent Online (IOL), Global South Media Network (GSMN.co.za), and Eswatini Daily News. She is also an Andrew W Mellon scholar at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice, UWC. The views expressed are her own.

** The views expressed here do not reflect those of Sunday Independent, Independent Media, and IOL.