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This report by the Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI) examines the failure of South Africa to provide equitable and affordable access to sufficient water, despite constitutional guarantees. It argues that the state has substituted a comprehensive human-rights definition of access with a narrow focus on physical infrastructure, while ignoring affordability and water quality. The report highlights the inadequacy of the Free Basic Water (FBW) policy and the systemic contradiction between municipal financial sustainability and the human right to water.

• South Africa's official benchmark for sufficient water, set at 6kl per household per month (25l per person per day), is significantly lower than the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendation of 50l to 100l per person per day.
• Water quality and reliability have declined; the 2023 Blue Drop National Report indicated that 46 per cent of South Africa's drinking water supply was unsafe for human consumption for the 2021/22 year.
• Water affordability has deteriorated as municipal tariffs have risen far above inflation. Between 2010 and 2020, the average municipal tariff for water increased by 213 per cent, compared to a 177 per cent increase for electricity.
• The Free Basic Water (FBW) policy is poorly implemented, with a significant gap between the number of households for which municipalities receive national funding and those actually registered as indigent. In 2022, only 2.6 million households were registered as indigent, while municipalities received funding for 10.9 million households.
• Municipalities often use the provision of free basic services as a tool for credit control and punishment. In the City of Cape Town, indigent households exceeding their 15kl allocation for two consecutive months may be restricted to a trickle of water and limited to 6kl per month for a year.
• There is a fundamental contradiction between the legal requirement for municipalities to maintain balanced budgets and the goal of providing affordable water. Because tariffs must be high enough to ensure financial sustainability, poor households are forced to sacrifice other essentials, such as food, to pay for water.
• South Africa lacks an independent oversight entity to monitor water tariffs from a consumer affordability perspective, leaving the discretion of access to municipal officials.
• Infrastructure failure contributes significantly to water scarcity and cost. In the City of Johannesburg, non-revenue water is at 45 per cent, with 25 per cent of water lost specifically to leaking infrastructure, amounting to 400 million litres per day.

APA

-1 (n.d.). -1. Public Affairs Research Institute. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/empty-promises-06-12-b-digi.pdf

Chicago

-1. -1. Public Affairs Research Institute, n.d. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/empty-promises-06-12-b-digi.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=-1 |title=-1 |publisher=Public Affairs Research Institute |url=https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/empty-promises-06-12-b-digi.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{1nd, author = {-1}, title = {{-1}}, institution = {Public Affairs Research Institute}, url = {https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/empty-promises-06-12-b-digi.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }