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Crisis in South Africa's water services sector

- Lee-Anne Gaertner

The Chair in Earth Justice and Stewardship and the South African Human Rights Commission launch the Water Rights Tracker

On 21 October 2026, the South African Human Rights Commission and the Claude Leon Chair in Earth Justice and Stewardship launch the Water Rights Tracker. The project maps the progress made in realising the right to water by profiling all 144 Water Services Authorities across the nine provinces of South Africa. The profiles depict a water services sector in crisis.

In South Africa, the Constitution guarantees everyone the right to access sufficient water. The Constitution also tasks the state with taking steps to achieve the progressive realisation of this right. In other words, the state has a legal duty to ensure everyone in the country has access to water – not with immediate effect, but rather gradually over time dependent on its available resources.

But, how do we measure this progressive realisation?

The Claude Leon Chair in Earth Justice and Stewardship in partnership with the South African Human Rights Commission has undertaken a five-year research project on the right to water. The Water Rights Tracker profiles all 144 Water Services Authorities across the nine provinces to better understand how far South Africa has come to realising the right to water – and how far we still have to go.

Despite significant reforms and investment in water provision, many communities still struggle to access this basic right. The findings present a detailed breakdown of the different elements that go into the progressive realisation of the right to water, and provide insights into which areas are most affected by poor service delivery. It is through the indicators associated with each element of the right to water that politicians and officials can be held meaningfully accountable for water services provision across the whole country.

On 21 October 2026, the Wits School of Law will host a hybrid launch of the Water Rights Tracker. Speakers include authors Prof Tracy-Lynn Field (Claude Leon Chair for Earth Justice and Stewardship), Dr Johandri Wright and Dr Albert Manyuchi, as well as Dr Henk Boshoff (Commissioner of the South African Human Rights Commission) and Prof Yasmin Carrim (Adjunct Professor of the Wits School of Law).

“Access to water is central to human dignity, life and health,” says Prof Tracy-Lynn Field. “The importance of ensuring that water is available, accessible, affordable, adequate and safe cannot be overstated. Local government bears a constitutional obligation to provide clean, adequate water and yet the right will not be realised without a whole-of-government and whole-of-society response. On the eve of the 2026 local government elections, the state of water services in South Africa is more pertinent than ever.”

The event will take place online via MS Teams from 11:00 – 12:30 on 21 October 2026. Register to attend online.

View an example of the Water Services Authorities profiles here. 

For event enquiries, please contact:

For media enquiries, please contact:

  • Mr Wisani Baloyi (Communications Co-ordinator for South African Human Rights Commission) at wbaloyi@sahrc.org.za 
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