Water is life: Building a nation around its most precious resource

A Mayfair resident protests outside Joburg Water headquarters in Newtown, Johannesburg, to demand answers from the entity. Picture: Nigel Sibanda When a nation turns on its taps and nothing flows, it is not merely a service delivery failure. It is an assault on human dignity, public trust and the social contract itself.

Water is the first promise of any developmental state. It is against this backdrop that the decisive interventions announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his recent State of the Nation Address must be understood. His commitment to tackling SA’s water challenges head-on, including the establishment of a national water crisis committee, signals not only urgency, but also a deep appreciation of water as the lifeblood of the economy and society.

The formation of the committee is a crucial and timely intervention. For too long, water challenges in parts of the country have been treated as isolated municipal breakdowns or infrastructure backlogs. The president’s announcement reframes the issue correctly as a national priority requiring coordinated, high-level oversight and rapid response.

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Water governance in SA is inherently complex. Government is responsible for bulk infrastructure and policy; provinces play an oversight and support role; municipalities are tasked with delivering water and sanitation to communities; and water boards operate bulk schemes across regions. When any link in this chain weakens, whether through financial mismanagement, infrastructure neglect, skills shortages or poor consequence management, the entire system feels the strain.

The president’s intervention recognises the chain must function as an integrated whole. A crisis committee at the highest level provides a mechanism to align mandates, accelerate decisions and enforce performance standards across spheres of government. Equally important is the emphasis on infrastructure investment. SA’s water systems were built decades ago to serve a smaller population and a different economy.

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