Gauteng water crisis may amount to human rights violation, SAHRC warns

In October 2023, the Johannesburg Water Crisis Committee took a step that many thought would go nowhere: it wrote to the South African Human Rights Commission about the worsening water crisis across the city.

“We documented the outages. We raised the impact on our families, schools, clinics and livelihoods. We demanded accountability. Today, we are seeing the result of that sustained pressure.”

The commission announced this week that it had launched an investigative inquiry into Gauteng’s sustained and deepening water crisis, warning that the situation might amount to a systemic human rights violation rather than a series of isolated service delivery failures.

Its Gauteng provincial office said the decision followed a large volume of complaints from communities across the province detailing persistent water shortages, ageing and poorly maintained infrastructure, governance breakdowns, contamination risks and recurring service delivery disruptions.

The commission said the crisis had become a defining feature of municipal service delivery in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni, with the greatest impact felt in poor and marginalised communities.

“The impact of the water crisis is disproportionately borne by poor and marginalised communities, residents of informal settlements, schools, healthcare facilities, early childhood development centres and social care institutions,” said the investigative inquiry’s terms of reference.

The consequences include compromised sanitation, increased public health risks, disruption of education and healthcare services and the erosion of human dignity.

“The crisis has also produced secondary systemic harms, including the emergence of informal and exploitative water distribution economies commonly referred to as ‘water tanker mafias’, who benefit from the dilapidated infrastructure.

“In many communities, prolonged outages have created dependence on unregulated private water tankers, entrenching inequality, profiteering and the commodification of a constitutional right.”

Municipalities lacked sufficient functional water tankers, logistical capacity and coordinated emergency distribution systems, leaving them increasingly dependent on private suppliers, it said.

The commission noted that the scale, persistence and systemic nature of the failures raised prima facie concerns of a systemic human rights violation, warranting a formal public inquiry.

At its core, the inquiry reframes the crisis beyond infrastructure failure, to examine whether the state is meeting its constitutional obligation to progressively realise access to sufficient water.

Access to water is a foundational human right, with the Constitution placing obligations on the state to respect, protect, promote and fulfil it. Where access is unreliable, unsafe or unequal, the impact extends beyond service delivery failure to affect rights to dignity, equality, life, health and a safe environment.

The inquiry, scheduled for 19 to 21 May 2026, will assess the extent, nature and root causes of Gauteng’s water crisis. This includes infrastructure breakdowns, ageing systems, planning and budgeting constraints, governance weaknesses and inadequate emergency response mechanisms.

It will also examine whether municipalities, water boards and national departments have taken reasonable steps to ensure access to water in line with constitutional obligations.

A central focus will be the lived experience of affected communities, where outages have become entrenched and essential services are routinely disrupted. 

The commission will assess impacts on public health, education, sanitation and dignity, and determine whether the situation constitutes a systemic violation of human rights.

It warned that if systemic failures were confirmed, the implications could extend beyond service delivery reform and require urgent corrective action to address widespread violations of fundamental rights.

The commission said its inquiry was intended to contribute to durable solutions ensuring equitable, consistent and dignified access to water across Gauteng.

As part of the process, the SAHRC has called for written submissions from affected communities, government departments, municipalities, water boards, civil society organisations, researchers, advocacy groups, private sector actors and members of the public.

Submissions may address the causes of the crisis, its impact on communities, existing interventions and proposals for sustainable water provision.

The Johannesburg Water Crisis Committee said it was preparing a submission to the commission.

The deadline for written submissions is 30 April 2026, after which selected stakeholders may be invited to present oral evidence during hearings.

Written submissions and correspondence may be delivered by hand or emailed to the Gauteng provincial office at Sentinel House Office Park, Parktown, Johannesburg, or via gpwaterinquiry2026@sahrc.org.za.