- President Cyril Ramaphosa released the National Water Action Plan after a high-level meeting of the Water Crisis Committee on Thursday.
- The water committee was first announced during SONA, as Johannesburg’s water woes overshadowed the event.
- The plan will enable private sector investment in the provision of water for the first time.
There was no “silver bullet” to solve the water crisis in municipalities, but the actions contained in the National Water Action Plan “will secure our water supply for years and decades to come”, President Cyril Ramaphosa said as he released the plan on Thursday.
The plan is the work of the National Water Crisis Committee, the government’s centralised mechanism for addressing water security in the country, which was initially announced by Ramaphosa during his State of the Nation Address in February.
It will emulate the model of the private-sector-led reforms that have begun to produce results in the energy and logistics sectors.
READ | Ramaphosa announces establishment of committee to tackle ongoing water crisis
On Thursday, Ramaphosa said the water committee would act like the crisis committee on Eskom, which was a coordinated response to combat load shedding, involving joint work streams between government and private sector experts.
Addressing the executive and representatives of the South African Local Government Association on Thursday, Ramaphosa said: “Now, we are applying the same approach to the water crisis that has been unfolding in many parts of our country.”
“The plan details the ways in which we will work with municipalities to mobilise resources, expertise and new partnerships to stabilise failing systems, recover critical services and expand access to clean, reliable water and dignified sanitation across the country,” he said.
He added that the plan outlined “strategic interventions” to address the water crisis over the short, medium and long term. The implementation of the plan will be managed by Operation Vulindlela, the project management unit in Ramaphosa’s office.
The essential flaw in water delivery, says the plan, is that revenue from water is not reinvested in water infrastructure.
“The revenue that municipalities earn from selling water is too often not put back into maintaining pipes and reservoirs or building the new infrastructure we need. This has resulted in dilapidated infrastructure, which, in turn, causes frequent water supply challenges,” said Ramaphosa.
In the short term, the government will support municipalities facing difficulties by deploying teams of experts to provide intensified technical support.
Ramaphosa said:
We are reprioritising water infrastructure grants to complete stalled projects, reduce non-revenue water and extend access to unserved communities.
Thursday’s meeting came after months of criticism, particularly by the DA over the lack of information on the committee.
In March, when the DA’s Stephen Moore asked when the water committee would meet, Ramaphosa said he would meet with Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana first to hash out financing.
READ | Ramaphosa’s water crisis committee has yet to meet – a month after its announcement
The water plan sets out five areas of intervention, with dedicated teams and clear priorities. According to the plan, some actions “will yield results within months; others are longer-term reforms that will take time to fully deliver”.
The five areas of intervention
The first area includes the key immediate actions, which include already established interventions at failing municipalities. Technical support teams have been mobilised, and priority municipalities have been identified for immediate interventions. Other immediate priority actions include unlocking infrastructure investment and delivery, strengthening governance and accountability, and accelerating regulatory and institutional reform.
The second involves a range of municipal and national reforms. Most notable is the Treasury’s reform of metro trading services, which will incentivise metros to ring-fence revenue to fix infrastructure.
The third area is the most far-reaching policy reform and includes measures to encourage and enable private sector investment in the water sector. The crisis committee will develop a pipeline of private sector projects and remove obstacles to attracting investment.
The fourth area will focus on enhancing national intervention in weak municipalities, which are failing in their responsibility to provide clean water and to treat wastewater.
The fifth area focuses on combatting crime and corruption in the water sector, including combatting vandalism and the water tanker mafia.
Johannesburg’s water woes
In the report, the country’s biggest metro receives special attention. The plan outlines that to combat the water crisis in Johannesburg, the crisis committee would work with the Presidential Johannesburg Working Group to focus on priority areas within the city, with specific actions and targets. The working group was formed in 2025 to tackle governance, infrastructure, and service delivery crises in Johannesburg.
READ | No mayor, looming uncertainty ahead of D-day for Joburg’s response to Godongwana ultimatum
Some of the priority areas for Johannesburg include restructuring Joburg Water so that its income goes back into fixing pipes and infrastructure, encouraging residents to save water and use it wisely, improving wastewater treatment and water quality, and fixing and upgrading infrastructure to make the water distribution system more resilient.
