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President Cyril Ramaphosa.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has issued a strong warning to local authorities who neglect their responsibility to supply water to communities, saying they face serious consequences.
Delivering the 2026 State-of-the- Nation Address (SONA) at the Cape Town City Hall on Thursday evening, Ramaphosa said the consequences include criminal charges in their personal capacity for failing to abide by the laws on water provision.
South Africa is facing an escalating national water crisis due to problems including ageing infrastructure, poor maintenance, and climate-induced droughts.
Major cities, particularly in Gauteng, have prolonged outages, prompting calls to declare the situation a national disaster.
The President says, “We will hold to account those who neglect their responsibility to supply water to our people. 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 critical problem is that in many metros, cities and towns, water revenue is being used for other purposes and very little is invested in upgrading and maintaining water infrastructure. To address this challenge, in line with the commitment that we made last year, we have introduced a new R54 billion incentive for metros to reform their water, sanitation and electricity services.”
State of the Nation Address:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDso0sPwTU0
