Why South Africa’s water crisis could hit harder than load shedding

Why South Africa’s water crisis could hit harder than load shedding

South Africans have learned to plan their lives around load shedding. Water cuts, however, are a different beast unpredictable, sudden and far harder to manage. And according to risk experts, the country is drifting toward a water crisis that could be even more disruptive than rolling blackouts.

The warning comes as water outages quietly overtake electricity cuts as the most common public service complaint across parts of the country.

A system under silent strain

Speaking to broadcaster Jeremy Maggs, Riskonet Africa risk expert Volker von Widdern said South Africa’s water system is approaching a breaking point, buckling under multiple pressures at once.

Aging infrastructure, failing wastewater treatment plants, widespread leaks and weak oversight are colliding creating the conditions for sudden, cascading failures across cities, towns and industrial zones.

For households and businesses, the danger lies in how little warning there is.

Unlike load shedding schedules, water supply often disappears without notice. Residents typically only find out there’s a problem when taps run dry or emergency repairs are announced.

More than just drought and climate change

While climate change has intensified rainfall extremes and flooding, von Widdern stressed that it is not a new or unexpected challenge. The deeper problem, he said, is how poorly the entire water value chain is managed from the source to treatment, distribution and final consumption.

Failures at one stage are no longer isolated. They ripple through the system.

Dam silting is a growing concern, driven by poor land management, overgrazing and environmental neglect. As sediment builds up, dams lose capacity, making them less able to absorb heavy rainfall and increasing the risk of flooding downstream.

“If we don’t look after our land resources,” von Widdern warned, “we add to the flooding problem and reduce the dams’ ability to manage water spikes.”

Infrastructure decay is a policy choice

At the heart of the crisis is decades of stop-start investment. Von Widdern described a pattern where infrastructure spending is repeatedly sacrificed in favour of short-term priorities like salaries and operational costs.

Over time, that trade-off hollows out the system.

“When maintenance and development are sidelined,” he said, “you eventually run out of infrastructure.”

The consequences are already visible. Flooding in Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and parts of the Kruger National Park has exposed how vulnerable communities and ecosystems have become, with water levels in some areas rising by as much as 10 to 20 metres.

Blocked stormwater drains, outdated floodlines and unplanned urban development have only made the damage worse.

Businesses told to prepare for water shocks

For companies, especially water-intensive industries, von Widdern believes old assumptions about reliable municipal supply no longer hold.

On-site water storage, rainwater harvesting and shared bulk supply systems in business parks are quickly shifting from “nice to have” to essential infrastructure.

Without them, production lines face the risk of sudden shutdowns as municipal systems strain under pressure.

Water outages replace load shedding on apps

Public frustration is becoming increasingly visible online. On the popular EskomSePush app once synonymous with load shedding water outages are now the most frequently reported service issue.

With national power cuts easing, the platform has evolved into a broader community alert system, allowing users to share updates on water disruptions, internet outages, crime incidents and even lost pets.

According to EskomSePush co-founder Herman Maritz, water-related reports are driving traffic levels similar to those seen during national load-shedding days.

“People are desperate for real-time information on water trucks, reservoir levels and restoration times,” he said, noting that in some metros, major water outages now trigger just as much activity as electricity cuts once did.

A crisis hiding in plain sight

The uncomfortable reality is that South Africa’s water emergency is unfolding quietly without schedules, without warnings and often without clear accountability.

Unlike load shedding, which came with a public reckoning and national response, water failures are fragmented and localised. But taken together, they point to a system under severe stress.

The question now is not whether the crisis will deepen, but whether the country acts before the taps run dry.

{Source: Business Tech}

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