The new Water Anti-Corruption Forum

WaterCAN, a civil society organisation advocating for water justice, has welcomed the launch of the Water Sector Anti-Corruption Forum (WSACF), led by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), as a critical intervention to confront entrenched corruption across South Africa’s water value chain.

WaterCAN Executive Director Dr Ferrial Adam said the country’s water crisis is driven not by a lack of resources, but by years of unchecked corruption, financial mismanagement, and systemic exploitation. She noted that WaterCAN, along with other water advocacy groups, has called for a forum of this nature for more than a decade.

“South Africa’s water infrastructure is collapsing. Communities are being told there is no money – yet billions have been lost to corruption. Over R4 billion was squandered on the Giyani water project alone, and many in that region still have no access to water. This is not a resource problem. This is a corruption crisis,” said Dr Adam.

She highlighted companies such as Blackhead Consulting, linked to the Rooiwal wastewater disaster and the Hammanskraal cholera outbreak, as examples of entities that continue to secure state contracts despite being implicated in serious failures.

“The establishment of the WSACF is a positive step. But South Africans have heard promises before. What we need now is decisive action.”

Dr Adam emphasised that the Forum must include a broad range of stakeholders—government, civil society, and the private sector—and be properly resourced to make a meaningful impact.

“The WSACF needs the human capital, diversity of voices, and most importantly, the budget to do its work. Corrupt companies must be permanently blacklisted, procurement policies strictly enforced, and municipalities and mayors held accountable for failing to spend infrastructure grants.”

She warned that failure to act decisively would deepen water inequality and push the crisis into further catastrophe.

“We must dismantle the criminal networks draining our country of its already limited water resources. This forum cannot be another talking shop—it must lead to arrests, prosecutions, convictions, and ultimately, an end to the looting.”