Majodina: R400bn needed to repair ageing water infrastructure in 107 municipalities

Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina has told Parliament that an estimated R400 billion is needed to repair and upgrade ageing water infrastructure across 107 municipalities, a figure she described as an infrastructure requirement rather than an allocated budget.

Who gave the figure and why

Majodina revealed the R400 billion estimate in a written response to a parliamentary question from MK Party MP Siyabonga Mkhize. The question referred to the National Water Action Plan released on 23 July 2026 and asked how many municipalities were experiencing critical or recurring water supply failures.

Scope of the problem

Majodina said the department uses its Blue Drop, No Drop and Green Drop assessment reports to identify municipalities with recurring system failures. The latest drop reports were released in 2026 and, according to the minister, showed that 107 of the country’s 144 water services authorities were in either a poor or critical state in one or more key water services performance areas.

What the National Water Action Plan does

The National Water Action Plan (NWAP) provides a framework for combined direct support and broader sector reforms to assist municipalities with persistent water service failures. Majodina said the plan “relies on existing data from relevant government institutions” and that the 2026 drop reports “remain the most comprehensive and credible assessment of municipal water services performance.”

Direct interventions under way

The department is using Section 63 of the Water Services Act and, in some cases, water boards deployed on the department’s behalf to provide direct support. Section 63 interventions have been implemented in three municipalities: Emfuleni Local Municipality in Gauteng, and uMkhanyakude and uThukela district municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal.

Majodina said the Section 63 component of the Emfuleni intervention had recently concluded, while the uThukela intervention “remained in its early stages.” She noted these interventions are being implemented alongside Section 139 interventions by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, which have placed affected municipalities under administration.

Support extended to other priority municipalities

The NWAP-aligned efforts also include targeted support in parts of the Free State. In Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality the focus is on restoring bulk water supply infrastructure and improving operational performance through implementing agents. In Matjhabeng Local Municipality interventions aim to stabilise water supply systems through infrastructure refurbishment and operational support.

The plan also includes reforms for metropolitan municipalities, with a stated focus on strengthening governance, financial management and the ring-fencing of water and sanitation services in metros including Johannesburg and eThekwini to improve operational performance and accountability.

Funding, allocations and what R400bn means

Majodina emphasised that the NWAP does not provide direct funding allocations to municipalities but serves as a strategic framework to coordinate existing funding and to unlock additional financing from public, private and commercial sources. She said, “Therefore, no additional funding has been made available for the NWAP to implement direct interventions.“

Based on existing infrastructure requirements, the department estimates the need at approximately R400 billion across the 107 water services authorities. Majodina clarified that the figure is “the infrastructure requirement, not an allocated budget.”

The department has transferred about R65 billion to municipalities over the past five years. For the current financial year the department was allocated R13.7 billion for infrastructure grants to municipalities. Of that, the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant is funding 70 bulk infrastructure projects across all provinces, while the Water Services Infrastructure Grant will support 341 projects. Majodina said about 80% of that allocation is directed towards the 107 worst-performing water services authorities.

Measures against corruption and oversight

The department said it has strengthened financial and implementation controls through conditional grant frameworks, project monitoring, regulatory oversight, financial reporting, audit requirements and consequence management. The Auditor-General provides independent oversight, with additional controls from National Treasury and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.

The NWAP identifies corruption and criminality as priorities. Majodina said the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (Natjoints), via the plan, is establishing a technical committee to lead Workstream 5 on safety and security. She also referred to the Water Sector Anti-Corruption Forum, launched by the minister in partnership with the Special Investigating Unit, and listed measures including stronger controls, information-sharing, whistleblowing, audits, investigations, recovering losses and enforcing consequences.

No deadline for full restoration

The department did not provide a specific date for when reliable water supplies would be restored to all affected communities. Majodina said,

“The circumstances differ between municipalities and individual water supply systems, depending on the condition of infrastructure, availability of funding, project readiness, technical capacity and governance.”

She added that the NWAP provides a coordinated short-, medium- and long-term programme and that “Government’s objective is to restore reliable services as quickly as practical. Projects being implemented in different municipalities will have their own timeframes and milestones in line with approved project plans and funding.”