Opposition parties criticise Ramaphosa's water crisis intervention
Water outages in Midrand and Laudium have sparked protests as Rand Water blames above-normal consumption and system failures for worsening shortages across the province.
Image: Picture: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers
Opposition parties and some Government of National Unity (GNU) partners have poured cold water on the interventions announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa to address the water crisis facing parts of the country.
Delivering the 2026 State of the Nation Address on Thursday night, Ramaphosa noted that water was now the single most important issue for many people in South Africa, from large cities like Johannesburg to smaller towns like Knysna and rural areas like Giyani.
“We have all seen the pain that our people have been expressing through demonstrations in various parts of Gauteng. These protests have been fuelled by frustrations over inadequate and unreliable access to basic services such as water,” he said.
Earlier in the week, Ramaphosa directed Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa to attend to the water crisis ravaging Johannesburg and other parts of the country.
He blamed poor planning and inadequate maintenance of water systems by many municipalities as the main cause of the problems and the reason that taps often run dry.
“We have committed more than R156 billion in public funding for water and sanitation infrastructure alone over the next three years.”
Ramaphosa also said they were building new dams and upgrading existing infrastructure.
The construction of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project and other large-scale projects like the Ntabelanga Dam, part of the Mzimvubu Water Project in the Eastern Cape, was advancing.
Ramaphosa said reforms were on the cards through the Water Services Amendment Bill that will hold water service providers accountable for their performance and withdraw their licence if they fail to deliver.
“If a municipality is not willing or able to provide a service to its residents, it must be done by another structure that can. These reforms will address the root causes of the water crisis.”
The government has already laid criminal charges against 56 municipalities that have failed to meet their obligations.
“We will now move to lay charges against municipal managers in their personal capacity for violating the National Water Act.”
The president announced that he will establish and chair the National Water Crisis Committee, which will bring together all existing efforts into a single coordinating body.
“It will deploy technical experts and resources from the national government to municipalities facing water challenges. It will ensure that action is taken swiftly and effectively to address the problem,” Ramaphosa said, adding that a new R54 billion incentive for metros to reform their water, sanitation, and electricity services has been introduced.
However, MK Party MP spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela questioned the R250m investment in water infrastructure over the next three years, asking why Ramaphosa had not made investments since he became the president.
“They have known the problem, and now all of a sudden he wants it to be a project. It is too late,” said Ndhlela.
The EFF stated that commitments were previously made to strengthen water security through institutional and infrastructure initiatives.
“Millions of South Africans continue to experience unreliable access to clean water, and implementation of water infrastructure projects is slow and inconsistent, as we are witnessing in the dismal failure to provide water across Johannesburg.”
The Red Berets said the establishment of the National Water Crisis Committee was “signalling that the gap between policy and execution continues to widen”.
The GNU partners were divided on the water crisis intervention.
Freedom Front leader Corne Mulder noted with concern that parts of Johannesburg currently do not have water.
“After years of government intervention in failed municipalities brought about no improvement, the president’s remarks on this matter lack conviction,” he said.
GOOD Party secretary-general Brett Herron said the intervention was welcomed.
He said the government will have to move rapidly to ensure that municipalities have access to funding and technical support to build the infrastructure and maintain it, since the water crisis is an immediate one.
“A centralised water entity, the National Water Crisis Committee, chaired by the president, is welcome as long as this entity will be where the buck stops - right at the door of the president,” said Herron.