By: Bright Ntuli
The MK Women’s League says South Africa’s water crisis is deepening, with taps running dry in several communities, raw sewage flowing into streets, and millions of residents facing unreliable and, in some cases, unsafe water supply.
The league has rejected Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina’s recent assertion that the country’s water security is “in balance”, arguing that the statement does not reflect the daily lived realities of ordinary South Africans.
Speaking on behalf of the league, Lindi Mtshali said many households across both urban and rural areas continue to experience prolonged water outages, deteriorating infrastructure and inadequate municipal response times. She added that ageing pipelines, poor maintenance and financial mismanagement at the local government level have compounded the crisis.
South Africa’s water challenges have been highlighted in recent years by repeated supply disruptions in major metros and smaller municipalities alike. Several municipalities have also struggled with wastewater treatment failures, leading to pollution of rivers and dams, a situation that raises public health concerns.
The MK Women’s League is calling for urgent and coordinated interventions. These include the provision of emergency water tankers to affected communities, the deployment of technical response teams to repair failing infrastructure, transparent public reporting on water system performance, and the ring-fencing of budgets for water and sanitation services.
Mtshali also emphasised the need for stronger anti-corruption measures to ensure funds allocated for infrastructure upgrades are properly spent. She further called for gender-responsive policies, noting that women and children are often disproportionately affected by water shortages, as they typically bear the burden of sourcing water for households.
The league says without decisive action, the crisis will continue to undermine public health, economic activity and basic human dignity.
