Save Joburg’s Water!

Johannesburg is facing a full-blown water crisis — leaking infrastructure, diverted funds, unpaid contractors, and rampant non‑revenue water have pushed the system to the brink. The city is failing its people: taps run dry in affluent and informal areas alike, protests erupt, and service breakdowns threaten public health, livelihoods, and trust.

With this campaign demand urgent legal protection and financial ring‑fencing for Johannesburg’s water utility (Johannesburg Water), and the creation of a multi‑stakeholder, high‑level Water Crisis Taskforce to oversee repair, accountability, and resilience in the short, medium, and long term.

  • Closes: 2 January 2026
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Speak up, be heard, take a stand!

This is not about blame alone — it’s about ensuring that water is no longer negotiable, that funds are protected from political reallocation, and that citizens have oversight and voice in restoring stable, dignity‑preserving service.

Your submission goes directly to decision-makers.

Fill in your details and join the call for urgent reform.

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Key concerns

  1. Diversion of funds & failure to ring‑fence

    • Parliament has flagged that about R4 billion meant for Johannesburg Water was diverted to other municipal priorities.

    • Without protected funding, Johannesburg Water cannot commit to infrastructure upgrades, maintenance or contractor payments.

  2. Infrastructure collapse, leaks, non‑revenue water

    • Nearly 44.8 % of treated water is lost to leaks, illegal connections, and inefficiencies.

    • The backlog in infrastructure renewal is estimated in the tens of billions.

    • Aging pump stations, cable theft, reservoir depletion and breakdowns exacerbate supply interruptions.

  3. Delayed contractor payments & project abandonment

    • Contractors claim they are not paid promptly or sometimes not at all, causing critical works to halt.
    • This further undermines confidence, causes cost escalations, and stalls progress.

  4. Weak oversight, accountability, planning & transparency

    • There is lack of clear, enforceable timelines and performance metrics in current “turnaround plans.”

    • The various entities (City of Johannesburg, Johannesburg Water, Rand Water, national dept) are poorly aligned and suffer from overlapping or unclear mandates.

  5. Social fragility & risk to public health

    • Protests have erupted, with communities resorting to water tankers, sometimes subject to “water mafias.”

    • Water interruptions undermine hygiene, increase disease risk, disproportionately impacting poor and informal settlements.

What we're advocating for

  1. Legally ring-fence water infrastructure funding

    • Ensure a protected budget line for repairs, maintenance, and upgrades.

    • Enforce payment deadlines for water contractors.

  2. Establish a Water Crisis Taskforce

    • A multi-stakeholder oversight body to coordinate repairs, reduce leakages, and enforce transparency.

    • Includes engineers, community leaders, civil society, and government.

  3. Publish a public water dashboard

    • Track outages, budgets, and leak reductions in real-time.

How you can help

  • Add your name to our petition, which  to demand action from the Mayor, Gauteng Premier, and Minister of Water and Sanitation. This submission will be made on 2 January 2026.

  • Raise your voice: Share your experience and pressure your councillor to support this campaign.

In the media

IOL Article
BusinessTech Article

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