By 
The President of South Africa H.E Cyril Ramaphosa told his audience at the National Water and Sanitation Indaba in Midrand on Thursday, 27 March 2025, that water and sanitation are key to development.
Ramphosa revealed that the National Infrastructure Fund has secured R23 billion, which will go towards seven large water infrastructure projects; these include Phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project which has resumed, uMkhomazi Dam; and construction of the Ntabelanga Dam on the uMzimvubu River.
“We have a number of other water infrastructure projects earmarked for blended financing through the Infrastructure Fund, such as the Polihali Dam that will feed 490 million cubic meters of water a year from the Lesotho Highlands into the Vaal River System.
Whilst these long-term water infrastructure build projects will undoubtedly mitigate current supply challenges being experienced, we are keenly aware that security of supply is by no means our only challenge. We are still very much a long way off from achieving clean water and sanitation for all, as encapsulated in Sustainable Development Goal 6,” said President Ramaphosa in his keynote address.
The sector is plagued by a variety of challenges at local government level, costing municipalities millions of revenue; alluding to this, Ramaphosa said last year’s Water Summit identified ageing and poorly-maintained infrastructure, vandalism of water infrastructure, illegal connections, and organised crime in the water sector as some of the challenges facing service delivery in this sector.
Turning his focus on local government, the President said financial mismanagement, insufficient revenue collection systems and high levels of physical water losses are compounding existing service delivery problems.
“These challenges have been consistently reflected in reports of the Municipal Strategic Self-Assessment, Stats SA, the Auditor-General and others. With this dire state of affairs we have seen declining private sector investment in water infrastructure, a situation that is only now improving.
By equal measure, municipalities have not reinvested the revenue they earn from the provision of services to the upkeep of key water infrastructure. Governance challenges and inefficiencies at the various reporting entities including the Water Boards have long been in the public domain.
A number of water boards have been or are the subject of probes by the Special Investigating Unit or SIU for corruption and fraud. These are problems impacting a country with a growing population, that is one of the most water-scarce countries in the world,” said Ramaphosa.
Despite the many challenges in the sector, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the government can pat its back for the progress made over the years as a majority of the population in South Africa now have access to clean water.
He said the results of Census 2022 point to the country’s on-going progress since the National Water Act was signed into law. He said in 2022, access to clean water stood at 88,5 per cent, and access to improved sanitation stood at 80,7 per cent.
“One contrasts this to the apartheid legacy where by 1994, approximately 30 per cent of the population lacked access to adequate water supply, and more than 50 per cent were without adequate sanitation.
The Department of Water and Sanitation is to be commended for its on-going efforts to improve water and sanitation access in our country. This includes progress towards meeting the minimum standards for the provision of water and sanitation services, and in addressing connection backlogs,” said the President.
