It was in response to these systemic challenges that in October 2021, the SAHRC held an Inquiry into access to water and the efficacy of water services authorities in the Limpopo Province. The Inquiry was held because of an increasingly concerning number of complaints received from members of the public regarding their lack of access to water.

The SAHRC has concluded its Inquiry Report, which it officially launched on 16 October 2023 in Polokwane, Limpopo.
In the Report, the SAHRC found in the main that most of the Water Services Authorities are failing to comply with the Water Services Act 108 of 1997 as well as with the Regulations relating to Compulsory National Standards and Measures to Conserve Water which provides for the minimum standard for basic water supply.
The SAHRC in its Report further found the following factors to be the underlying causes of water challenges in the Province: lack of sufficient skills; lack of planning; and lack of proper execution of duties by water services authorities as required by the Water Services Act. The Report also highlights how Water Services Authorities fail to adequately spend grants allocated to them, and how oversight bodies such as the Departments of Water and the Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs display a lack of consequence management towards those municipalities who are unable to provide water to vulnerable communities.

The Report contains twenty-six (26) recommendations directed at all the ten Water Services Authorities in the Limpopo Province as well as the oversight bodies in the Province such as the Department of Water and Sanitation, Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the Office of the Premier.
The SAHRC has already tabled this Report with the Limpopo Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs to ensure that it exercises oversight. The SAHRC intends to closely monitor the implementation of its recommendations to ensure that the right of access to water in the Limpopo Province does not remain an illusory dream for many.

The SAHRC reiterates that it is important for municipalities who are appointed as Water Services Authorities to fulfil their crucial and direct role of providing everyone, particularly vulnerable communities, with access to water. This duty cannot be overemphasised in the context where South Africa is a water scarce country rated amongst the top 30 driest countries in the world.

The report can be accessed on the following link: https://www.sahrc.org.za/home/21/files/Limpopo%20Water%20Report.pdf
Ends

Issued by the South African Human Rights Commission
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