How South Africa can tackle its water crisis: Insights from Ramaphosa’s address

Joburg residents took to the streets recently to protest over continued water challenges. In his State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa articulated a national response to the water crisis anchored firmly in constitutional obligation and strategic foresight. His articulation moved beyond immediate symptoms to affirmation that water security is inseparable from human dignity and the long-term stability and development of our society.

As the Association of Water and Sanitation Institutions of South Africa (AWSISA), we welcome both the clarity of his analysis and the resolve embedded in his response. The President has reframed the water challenge as a collective national undertaking that demands disciplined coordination, sustained investment and shared responsibility across the state, industry and society. It is a call not simply to repair infrastructure, but to restore confidence in the very architecture of governance that safeguards every drop.

His remarks demonstrate a deep understanding of the institutional framework that defines water governance in South Africa, the causes of systemic failure at multiple levels of the water value chain and the long-term imperatives for reform that must drive the sector’s collective response. Ramaphosa confronted the roots of the crisis with candour and precision. He identified systemic weaknesses in municipal planning, maintenance and infrastructure management as central drivers of recurring water disruptions, pointing to years of under-investment and operational neglect.

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The President made it clear that the government will invoke powers under the Constitution and the Water Services Act of 1997 to intervene in municipalities whenever the need arises. He added that the government has already laid criminal charges against 56 municipalities for failing to meet their obligations and will now proceed to lay charges against municipal managers in their personal capacity for violating the National Water Act of 1998. We welcome these statements because they affirm that accountability within the legal and regulatory framework is non-negotiable.

The constitutional and legislative context within which these commitments sit is well established. The President’s framing demonstrated a firm grasp of this dual architecture of water resource management and water services provision.

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