Where Are the Deadlines and Consequences?

OUTA says government’s new water strategy identifies the problems but lacks the clear deadlines, funding commitments, and accountability needed to fix them.

South Africans don’t need another plan explaining why their taps are running dry, why sewage flows into their streets, or why municipalities cannot maintain basic water infrastructure. They need to know when these problems will be fixed, who is responsible and what happens when those responsible fail to deliver.

This is the concern raised by the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) following the publication of the 2026 Strategic Framework for Water and Sanitation Services.

While OUTA supports the Framework’s direction, it warns that the document risks becoming another government strategy that identifies the right problems without ensuring anything changes on the ground.

The Framework sets out government’s approach to improving water and sanitation services across South Africa. It acknowledges the serious challenges facing the sector, including ageing infrastructure, failing wastewater treatment plants, high levels of water losses, inadequate municipal capacity and persistent inequalities in access to services.

It also proposes measures that OUTA supports, such as appointing suitably qualified professionals to manage water services, reducing water losses, investing in infrastructure maintenance, improving public reporting and establishing an independent economic and water services regulator.

“Identifying these problems is not the same as fixing them. South Africa does not have a shortage of water policies; rather, we have a shortage of implementation, accountability and consequences,” says Julius Kleynhans, Executive Manager at OUTA.

“As a nation, we cannot afford for the player to be the referee in water services any longer. An independent regulator for water services cannot remain another future promise. South Africans need transparent, credible and impartial water regulation now that can apply reasonable oversight and accountability measures regardless of what political party is in power.”

Where municipalities negligently polluted rivers with sewage in the past, and have been found guilty and fined, the ratepayers had to foot the bill. We want to see officials and politicians pay the fines or go to jail when these transgressions occur. The cost of municipal failure should not be placed on the consumer,” Kleynhans added.

“Residents are expected to pay their municipal accounts, but too often the same municipalities fail to deliver the services they are being paid to provide. A new strategy means very little to a family that has been without water for days or a community living with sewage running down its streets.”

For households and businesses, the consequences of failing water services are already being felt. Repeated water interruptions disrupt daily life and economic activity, while sewage spills create serious health and environmental risks. Poor maintenance also increases the cost of repairing or replacing infrastructure, placing further pressure on municipal finances and ultimately the communities that depend on these services.

OUTA is particularly concerned that the published Framework still contains targets and performance indicators described as preliminary, unconfirmed or requiring further validation.

The document also contains inconsistencies in its deadlines and funding provisions. Certain commitments linked to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which have a 2030 deadline, appear to have been shifted to 2035 under the Framework. The allocation of grant funding for infrastructure repairs and renewal is also presented differently in separate sections of the document.

These are not simply administrative oversights. Without consistent targets, reliable figures and clear deadlines, it becomes difficult for Parliament, oversight bodies and the public to measure progress or hold responsible institutions accountable.

“Communities cannot be expected to wait until 2035 for municipalities to meet basic governance and reporting obligations that should have been in place years ago,” says Kleynhans.

“If government is serious about fixing water services, every commitment must have a deadline, a responsible institution and a measurable outcome. There must also be consequences when those commitments are ignored.”

OUTA believes the Framework must be strengthened to include clear annual milestones, realistic and transparent funding commitments, and specific responsibilities for every institution tasked with delivering improvements.

Progress must be independently verified and publicly reported so that residents can see whether their municipalities/water service providers (WSA’s) are meeting their obligations. Where WSA’s repeatedly fail to comply, there must be meaningful intervention and consequences for those responsible.

Professionalising water services is equally important. Technical appointments must be based on qualifications and competence, while political interference, financial mismanagement and the neglect of essential infrastructure must be addressed.

OUTA will continue scrutinising the Framework and raising concerns about gaps in its targets, funding and accountability measures. The organisation will also continue advocating for stronger municipal oversight, transparent infrastructure spending and consequences for officials and institutions that fail to fulfil their responsibilities.

“Government cannot keep producing strategies while infrastructure deteriorates and communities suffer. We need to move from identifying problems to fixing them, with measurable results that the public can see,” says Kleynhans.

“Water is an essential service, not a political promise. South Africans deserve to know who is responsible for delivering it, when improvements will happen and who will be held accountable when they don’t.”

Ultimately, the success of this Framework will not be measured by the number of commitments it contains, but by whether South Africans experience fewer water interruptions, functioning sanitation systems and better-maintained infrastructure.