By Abdullahi Lukman
President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the establishment of a National Water Crisis Committee to combat South Africa’s escalating water emergency.
Unveiled during Thursday’s State of the Nation Address, the high-level body will be personally chaired by the President and serves as a central coordinating unit to address widespread supply disruptions across Gauteng, the Eastern Cape, North West, and Limpopo provinces.
The committee is modeled after the National Energy Crisis Committee used to tackle electricity load shedding. It is designed to deploy technical experts and national resources directly to struggling municipalities.
Ramaphosa attributed the current emergency to “systemic failures” and years of infrastructure neglect, noting that ageing systems and financial mismanagement have left many local governments unable to meet rising urban demand.
In a significant escalation of oversight, the President issued a stern warning to local authorities, confirming that the government will pursue criminal charges against municipal managers who violate the Water Services Act.
Legal action has already been initiated against 56 municipalities.
This move follows months of crises where residents in major hubs like Gauteng have faced chronic outages, while communities in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo have been forced to rely on emergency water tankers due to dysfunctional treatment plants.
The new committee’s primary mandate is to ensure swift intervention and the restoration of reliable water services by bridging the gap between national policy and municipal execution.
By consolidating existing efforts into a single body, the government aims to professionalize water management and fast-track the repair of failing reservoirs and pumping stations nationwide.
