Africa-Press – South-Africa. South Africa could soon have new legislation for the nation’s water management, with President Cyril Ramaphosa warning that a lack of water could be worse than load shedding.
The Department of Water and Sanitation is working on two new Bills, the Water Services Amendment Bill and the National Water Amendment Bill, with the former introduced to Parliament.
The new Bills comes amid a consistently worsening environment for water across South Africa, with taps running dry across several suburbs.
The lack of water has recently led to protests across the nation’s most prosperous city, Johannesburg.
At the start of the year, President Cyril Ramaphosa earmarked addressing South Africa’s water crisis as a top priority for the government in 2025.
Ramaphosa warned that the state has to address the issue before it spirals out of control, which he warned could be worse than load shedding that crippled the economy in 2023 and 2024.
“Load shedding has been supplanted by the water security crisis, which poses a similar if not greater threat to the quality of life and economic prospects of all South Africans,” said Ramaphosa.
“Indeed, water is life and sanitation is dignity,” he added.
Multiple reasons, including poor investment in infrastructure, corruption, the proliferation of illegal connections, water scarcity, and climate change, are leading to taps running dry across the country.
Reports from the Department of Water and Sanitation, including the Green, Blue and No Drop Reports, highlight the concerning state of South Africa’s water services. This includes:
51% of water provided has poor to bad microbiological water quality status;
40.8% of water was lost due to leaks or was unaccounted for;
67.6% of wastewater treatments failed to adequately process sewage and other wastes.
Water Services Amendment Bill
Introduced to Parliament at the start of October, the new Bill aims to amend the Water Services Act of 1997.
The Bill provides for the registration of persons who install and operate water service works.
It will also provide a licensing system for municipal service delivery mechanisms delivering water services.
Regarding regulatory bodies, the law also provides for a water services licensing authority and further governance and operations requirements for water boards.
The Bill will also look to strengthen the compliance and enforcement provisions in the Act.
Authorised persons will be give power to conduct inspections of water services works, with penalties and other offences for those in contravention of the Act.
Water Services Amendment BillDownload
National Water Amendment Bill
The Department of Water and Sanitation published an explanatory summary of the National Water Amendment Bill ahead of its tabling in parliament by Minister Pemmy Majodina.
The incoming bill aims to enhance and strengthen the nation’s regulatory aspect and ensures that the country’s water resources are managed, protected, used, developed, and conserved.
It also hopes to promote equity and redress past imbalances for water access while addressing past imbalances.
As the Bill has yet to be tabled, how these issues are addressed remains up in the air.
The Bill has also been certified by the Chief Law State Advisor as being in line with the Constitution and properly drafted in the style form consistent with the legislative process.
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