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Establishing a national water agency is a critical step towards addressing South Africa’s water crisis, but municipalities must also take responsibility for their ageing and poorly maintained infrastructure.
Legal firm Cliffe Dekker Homeyr’s Anton Ackermann and Alistair Young recently outlined the progress in establishing a new state-owned enterprise to manage South Africa’s water resources infrastructure.
The legal experts explained that South Africa’s water infrastructure is under severe strain due to its ageing systems, inadequate maintenance and increasing demand driven by urbanisation, population growth and severe climate events.
“The deterioration of infrastructure has resulted in poor water quality, intermittent supply in some regions, and heightened vulnerability due to drought,” they said.
“Both Cape Town and Gqeberha have recently come close to ‘Day Zero’, when dam levels reached extremely low levels resulting in the implementation of strict water rationing.”
More recently, Johannesburg has also struggled with water supply disruptions, leaving many residents without access to water.
Ackermann and Young said these crises highlight the urgent need for improved water management, infrastructure investment and conservation efforts to prevent possible future shortages.
This is exactly what the South African National Water Resources Infrastructure Agency is intended to do on a national level.
President Cyril Ramaphosa approved the Water Resources Infrastructure Agency Act on 7 August 2024, and it came into effect on 7 February 2025.
This legislation establishes a state-owned company to efficiently develop, operate, and manage national water resources infrastructure in accordance with constitutional mandates and national policy.
“It also ensures continuity of the functions currently being performed by the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA) and supports the government’s broader development and transformation objectives,” Ackermann and Young explained.
The Water Resources Infrastructure Agency Act establishes the South African Water Resources Infrastructure Agency as a state-owned company.
South Africa’s new state-owned enterprise
The South African Water Resources Infrastructure Agency will develop, operate, maintain, and fund national water resources infrastructure.
It is also mandated to act in the public interest, promote the efficient management of water infrastructure, and align its functions with national water and economic development objectives.
Ackermann and Young further explained that the Water Resources Infrastructure Agency Act sets out the legal framework for transferring national water resources infrastructure to the newly established agency.
It provides for the comprehensive transfer of assets, liabilities, water use agreements and related responsibilities from the Department of Water and Sanitation to the agency.
“Critically, the Agency Act mandates the disestablishment of the TCTA, with all its functions and powers to be transferred to the Agency in a phased approach,” they said.
“This process will effectively consolidate the governance and management of national water infrastructure under a single state-owned entity to enhance efficiency and long-term sustainability.”
South Africa’s Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina is required to specify a date within 12 months of the agency’s establishment for the transfer of assets, liabilities, water use agreements and related responsibilities from the TCTA to the Agency.
The most recent development in the agency’s establishment is that the minister intends to introduce proposed amendments to the Water Resources Infrastructure Agency Act and the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) to Parliament.
These amendments will provide for the new Water Agency’s listing in Schedule 2 of the PFMA and the delisting of the TCTA from Schedule 2 of the PFMA.
“These preliminary steps confirm the initial progress that has been achieved in establishing the Agency,” they said.
Municipal responsibility
Ackermann and Young said the establishment of the Agency is a critical step towards enhancing the management, operation and maintenance of national water resources infrastructure.
By consolidating functions under a single state-owned entity and ensuring alignment with national development and policy objectives, the agency is poised to play a key role in securing South Africa’s water future at a national level.
However, they said that to truly secure South Africa’s water future, the distribution of water by municipalities to end users must be significantly improved.
They warned that the ongoing challenges of ageing municipal water infrastructure, inadequate maintenance and rising demand will continue to hinder water security unless municipalities also take responsibility for upgrading and maintaining their systems and infrastructure.
“While the establishment of the agency is a positive step forward, it cannot be viewed as the sole solution to South Africa’s water security challenges,” they said.
“The broader issues of municipal infrastructure and management must also be urgently addressed.”
source:South African water crisis – Daily Investor
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