More than half of South Africans experience water outages

South Africa’s water crisis has been worsening for several years, with a recent report finding that more than half of the households in the country experienced water interruptions in 2024. These enduring, prolonged outages threaten progress towards access to safe drinking water. The latest statistics emerged during a briefing by the parliamentary water caucus to the portfolio committee on water and sanitation on Tuesday.

It was based on the 2024 General Household Survey conducted by Statistics South Africa. The water caucus is an informal cross-party grouping of MPs focused on water, sanitation, and hygiene. The presentation painted a worrying picture of a country struggling to secure a reliable water supply for the past 20 years.

The data shows that just under half of households reported no water interruptions in 2024. This means that more than 50% experienced some form of disruption during that year. One in three households said their water supply had been interrupted for more than two consecutive days or for 15 days or longer in total over the year.

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The presentation noted that water supply is “under strain”, with declining provincial access percentages in certain regions and mounting infrastructure challenges. A further indication of the country’s water issues is seen in the percentage of households without access to water. In 2024, only 87.7% of households had tapped or piped water in their dwellings or on-site.

This is the lowest level since 2004, when it sat at 86.5%. Access to water has also been declining since 2020. Disparities between provinces persist, with the Western Cape and Gauteng recording the highest levels of access, and Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal significantly underserved.

On water quality perceptions, most households reported confidence in the safety and quality of the water they drink. However, provincial variations were evident.

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