Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina. Image: Supplied
Department of Water and Sanitation
1Min
South Africa
Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina says South Africa’s worsening water crisis has become a major constraint on economic growth, calling for urgent action and accountability across all levels of government.
Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina has warned that water can no longer be treated as a routine service delivery issue, describing it as a binding constraint on economic growth and national development.
Delivering a keynote address during a ministerial webinar tracking progress on the 2025 Water and Sanitation Indaba resolutions on Friday, Majodina said the country’s water crisis now poses a direct threat to both development and human well-being.
“Water security is national security,” she said, stressing that the issue must be treated with the same urgency as energy reform.
Held under the theme “Tracking Progress and Strengthening Partnerships for Sustainable Water and Sanitation Delivery”, the webinar brought together government, municipalities, water entities, business, labour and civil society to assess implementation and confront persistent sector challenges.
Majodina said the Indaba marked a critical shift from prolonged discussions to implementation.
“The message from that Indaba was unmistakable: the era of endless discussion had to give way to the era of delivery,” she said.
Citing national assessments, she painted a bleak picture, revealing that nearly half of South Africa’s water supply systems fail to meet required standards, while about 64% of wastewater treatment works are in a critical condition.
“In a water-scarce country such as ours, that is not simply inefficiency, it is unacceptable,” she said, noting that nearly 47% of water is lost before reaching communities due to leaks, ageing infrastructure and poor maintenance.
Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina e warned that where municipalities fail to deliver, government will intervene decisively. Image: Supplied
Majodina said the crisis is rooted not only in technical challenges but also governance failures, including poor planning, weak financial management and a lack of accountability.
“Many are failing due to poor planning, a lack of preventative maintenance, weak financial management, poor billing and revenue collection, and, in some instances, the misuse of funds,” she said.
She warned that where municipalities fail to deliver, government will intervene decisively.
“Accountability is no longer optional, it is non-negotiable,” Majodina said.
The Minister outlined five key priorities from the 2025 Indaba, including improving financial sustainability, strengthening technical capacity, adopting fit-for-purpose delivery models, deepening partnerships and intensifying the fight against corruption and criminality.
On financial viability, she warned that the sector is trapped in a cycle of collapse driven by poor revenue collection and misallocation of funds.
“No money means no maintenance, no maintenance means no reliability, and no reliability means no service delivery,” she said.
Majodina also highlighted the need for stronger collaboration with law enforcement to tackle corruption, vandalism and illegal connections.
“Corruption, theft, illegal connections, vandalism and procurement abuse are not side issues. They are actively destroying the sector, drain scarce resources, undermine delivery and rob poor communities of dignity,” she said.
She added that progress reports from all nine provinces will form part of ongoing monitoring efforts to strengthen implementation and accountability.
“Let us fix what is broken, restore what has failed, defeat corruption, dysfunction, and indifference. The time for action is now,” Majodina said.
