The struggle for equitable access to water in South Africa

The report argues that South Africa has failed to translate its constitutional right to water into reality for millions of poor households. While physical access to piped water has increased since 1994, the state has substituted a comprehensive human-rights definition of access with a narrow focus on physical infrastructure. The report finds that the Free Basic Water (FBW) policy is inadequate because its 6kl monthly allocation is well below WHO minimums and is often restricted to a small number of registered indigent households. Furthermore, the report highlights a fundamental contradiction between municipal financial sustainability and affordable access, noting that high tariffs force poor households to sacrifice food expenditure to pay for water. It recommends revising the minimum water allowance to 75l per person per day, establishing a national indigent policy, and creating an independent water regulator to enforce concrete affordability standards.

• South Africa's official benchmark for sufficient water is 6kl per household per month (25l per person per day), which is less than half of the World Health Organisation's recommended minimum of 50l to 100l per person per day.
• Water quality has declined significantly, with the 2023 Blue Drop National Report indicating that 46 per cent of the drinking water supply was unsafe for human consumption for the 2021/22 year.
• Reliability of water services is decreasing; the percentage of urban consumers reporting they seldom or never experience interruptions dropped from 82 per cent in 2015 to 67 per cent in 2022.
• Municipal water tariffs have increased significantly faster than inflation; from 2010 to 2020, the average municipal tariff for water rose by 213 per cent, compared to a 177 per cent increase for electricity.
• There is a severe gap between the number of households for which municipalities receive Free Basic Services (FBS) funding and those actually registered as indigent. In 2022, municipalities were funded for 10.9 million households, but only 2.6 million were registered as indigent.
• The state's focus on cost recovery and the 'user pays' principle creates a fundamental contradiction with the goal of universal affordable access, as municipalities are legally prohibited from having unfunded budgets.
• Municipal debt is substantial, totaling R340 billion at the end of June 2024, with R108.7 billion specifically related to water and R33 billion to waste-water management.
• Poor households are often forced to sacrifice essential food expenditure to pay for water, exacerbating food insecurity and child stunting (which affects 28 per cent of children under 5).
• High levels of non-revenue water, particularly physical losses from leaking infrastructure, threaten financial sustainability. In the City of Johannesburg, non-revenue water is 45 per cent, with physical losses at 25 per cent.
• There is a critical governance gap as no independent entity exists to oversee consumer water tariffs from an affordability perspective or enforce remedial action.

APA

Ledger, T., Rampedi, M., & Ndhlovu, N. (2024). The struggle for equitable access to water in South Africa. Public Affairs Research Institute. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/empty-promises-06-12-b-digi.pdf

Chicago

Ledger, Tracy, Mahlatse Rampedi, and Ntokozo Ndhlovu. The struggle for equitable access to water in South Africa. Public Affairs Research Institute, 2024. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/empty-promises-06-12-b-digi.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ledger |first1=Tracy |last2=Rampedi |first2=Mahlatse |last3=Ndhlovu |first3=Ntokozo |title=The struggle for equitable access to water in South Africa |publisher=Public Affairs Research Institute |date=November 2024 |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{ledger2024struggle, author = {Ledger, Tracy and Rampedi, Mahlatse and Ndhlovu, Ntokozo}, title = {{The struggle for equitable access to water in South Africa}}, institution = {Public Affairs Research Institute}, year = {2024}, month = nov, 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} }