Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa in Boksburg on Thursday. (Photo: GCIS)
Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa will meet with ministers, prime ministers, mayors and municipal managers on Thursday in the hope of finally finding a solution to the country’s water crisis.
Deputy Pres. Paul Mashatile, Pemmy Majodina, Minister of Water and Sanitation, Enoch Godongwana, Minister of Finance, and Velenkosini Hlabisa, Minister of Cooperative Government and Traditional Affairs, are all present at the high-level meeting in Boksburg on the East Rand.
“This is the first time that the water crisis committee is holding an extended meeting that brings together ministers as well as prime ministers, mayors and municipal managers,” Ramaphosa said on Thursday morning.
“So all of us who are here are participating in a historic meeting. We have never held such a large meeting like this.”
Ramaphosa’s so-called water crisis committee was set up in February this year after the state of the nation address in the hope of tackling the country’s water crisis.
“We have decided that we need to expand the intellectual capacity of the committee – by bringing on board all the smart mayors and municipal managers. I know how smart and how capable you are,” Ramaphosa said before bringing leaders from all three spheres of government up to speed.
“One of the most pressing challenges affecting almost every municipality is the crisis in the supply of water and sanitation. A significant part of the agenda is devoted to tackling this challenge,” Ramaphosa said in his opening speech on Thursday morning.
“We will deal with it from a diagnostic point of view and a solution point of view.”
Enoch Godongwana, Minister of Finance, in Boksburg on Thursday. (Photo: GCIS/X)
Ramaphosa explained that access to water is not the problem.
“According to the last census of 2022, more than 82% of households have access to water in pipes (tap water) – in their homes or in their yards. This is an increase from the 61% in 1996. However, as the general household survey of 2024 showed, many communities are experiencing problems with the reliability and quality of water,” the president explained.
“The percentage of households experiencing water outages – outages lasting more than two days at a time – has risen from 24% in 2012 to 34% in 2024.
“This is due to aging infrastructure, which we must talk about today, illegal connections, which we must also focus on, inadequate metering, poor monitoring, poor maintenance and institutional instability.”
Ramaphosa then pointed out that the country’s eight metropolitan municipalities are undoubtedly facing a serious water crisis, with an average of 34.6% of the metros’ treated water being lost due to leaks, aging infrastructure and poor management.
“Some metros are approaching 50%.
“Municipal debt to water boards has tripled from 2018 to 2025.
“This crisis did not happen overnight and will not be solved by any single intervention. We need a series of actions that tackle critical areas of failure. Solving this crisis requires a collaborative and coordinated response across all spheres of government.”
“Today’s historic and unique meeting is aimed at improving our collaborative governance process so that we can work together on a clear action plan to deal with the challenges facing many of our municipalities.
We all know what those challenges are,” Ramaphosa pointed out.
Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia is also attending Thursday’s “historic” meeting. (Photo: GCIS/X)
“Many of our municipalities do not have the revenue base to provide the infrastructure and services that people need. Many municipalities also lack the skills required, and in many ways this is why there is a tendency to outsource the traditional functions of local government.
“The current system is too complex and fragmented, with even small and underfunded municipalities expected to take on many responsibilities due to systemic problems, coupled with government instability.
“Many municipalities have poor financial management, poor revenue collection and insufficient capacity. This leads to poor service delivery, water and electricity outages, poorly maintained roads… It is ordinary South Africans who bear the cost of these failures.
“Our task in this meeting is not to repeat the catalog of shortcomings and weakness in local government, but to concentrate on the solutions,” Ramaphosa emphasized.
“The finalization of the new local government white paper will be crucial for us all. It will rethink the way local government works and examine the systemic challenges in this structure.
“The progress we have made nationally with the load shedding, the improvement of logistics, must now be translated into the local reality that will improve the lives of our people.
“For South Africa to work, municipalities must work,” agreed Hlabisa as Minister of Cooperative Government and Traditional Affairs during his speech.
“No one lives in a provincial or national government. But everyone, without exception, lives in a certain ward in a certain municipality.
“Every business, small, medium or large, exists and operates in a certain ward in a certain municipality.
“That’s why the focus must be on local government – every municipality must work to make South Africa work fully.
Premier Panyaza Lesufi, Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa and Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa in Boksburg on Thursday. (Photo: GCIS)
“Municipalities are central to everything – water, electricity, sanitation, garbage disposal, working street lights, pothole-free roads and economic development.
“Access to water is not a privilege. It is a constitutional right. Yet the reality of many communities today stands in sharp contrast to this constitutional promise,” Hlabisa pointed out.
“It is for this reason that the president announced the establishment of the national water crisis committee and requested this high-level intergovernmental engagement.
“This indicates a clear shift in approach from fragmented, reactive interventions to a coordinated, whole-of-government response.”
According to Hlabisa, his department has already stepped up its technical support to all municipalities – especially those under serious pressure.
In the case of certain municipalities, the help of engineers and technical experts was called in.
“But we have to be honest with ourselves. Technical support alone will not solve this crisis,” Hlabisa stressed.
“Without political stability, sound financial management and accountable leadership at the municipal level, even the best technical intervention will not succeed.
“Infrastructure will continue to deteriorate if not properly maintained. Systems will continue to fail if revenue is not collected. Plans will remain on paper if there are no consequences for continued poor performance.
“That is why today’s involvement is so important,” the minister pointed out. “It brings together political leadership, administrative leadership and institutional partners in one room – not to repeat the problem, but to confront it honestly and vote on the way forward.
“The people of South Africa are no longer interested in explanations. They are interested in results.”
