SOUTH Africa’s water sector is facing a deepening crisis, with nearly half of the country’s municipalities failing to provide safe drinking water and almost all wastewater treatment plants unable to meet quality standards.
This is according to the Auditor-General South Africa (AGSA)’s first consolidated audit of the national water sector, presented to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation on Tuesday.
The report found that 46 percent of municipalities operate unsafe drinking water systems, while 44 percent failed chemical safety tests.
The situation is even worse in wastewater management, where 99 percent of treatment plants failed at least one quality indicator, resulting in persistent contamination of rivers, dams and coastal environments with partially treated or untreated sewage.
Financial losses in the sector are equally severe.
The AGSA recorded R14.89 billion in water losses during the 2023/24 financial year, driven by leaks, faulty infrastructure, poor metering and inadequate billing systems.
Infrastructure projects meant to improve water reliability are significantly delayed, with the audit revealing that projects run an average of 32 months behind schedule.
The report also highlighted extensive neglect of routine maintenance, compounding system failures.
Material irregularities amounting to more than R1.7 billion were recorded across national and municipal water entities, with several cases already referred to the Special Investigating Unit.
However, recovery efforts are moving slowly due to legal complexities.
The portfolio committee reacted with shock to the findings, warning that the systemic failures pose a mounting threat to public health, environmental sustainability and basic service delivery.
In response, the committee called for urgent and far-reaching accountability measures, including intensified oversight visits to provinces and municipalities, regular joint sessions with water boards and exploration of legal avenues such as a commission of inquiry into municipal water failures.
It also recommended considering criminal charges against municipalities found to be polluting rivers and oceans with untreated sewage.
Committee Chairperson Leon Basson condemned the state of the sector, saying: “The state of our water sector is unacceptable.
“We cannot allow untreated sewage to poison our rivers and communities to suffer without clean water.
“Accountability must be enforced, and decisive action will follow.”
The AGSA urged municipalities to improve billing accuracy, allocate adequate maintenance budgets and strengthen oversight to prevent recurring failures.
The audit further recommended supporting the full operationalisation of catchment management agencies to enable more localised and effective water governance.