South Africa’s water governance framework is built on one of the most progressive constitutional foundations in the world. Yet the gap between the lawful right to use water and practical delivery remains one of the country’s most pressing challenges.Section 27(1)(b) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, states that everyone has the right of access to sufficient water, placing a clear obligation on the state to respect, protect, promote and fulfil this right.

What is access to sufficient water?

Defining what constitutes ‘sufficient water’ is far more complex than it appears in law. While the Constitution establishes the right, the regulatory framework attempts to qualify and quantify it. The Water Services Act 108 of 1997 (WSA) defines the minimum standard of basic water supply as 25 litres per person per day, or six kilolitres per household per month. This supply must be accessible within 200 metres of a household, delivered at a minimum flow rate of 10 litres per minute, and provided with sufficient reliability so that no consumer is without water for more than seven full days in any year.The Act defines basic water supply as ‘the prescribed minimum standard of water supply services necessary for the reliable supply of a sufficient quantity and quality of water to households, including informal households, to support life and personal hygiene’.“In practise, I would say that sufficient water means reliable, safe and accessible water for personal and household use. In reality, however, in a water stressed region like South Africa with service delivery failures across many municipalities, these standards are often not met. Ageing infrastructure, insufficient maintenance and capacity constraints within municipalities have led to widespread supply interruptions. In some communities, residents experience water outages lasting weeks or even months, far exceeding the allowable service interruptions outlined in regulation,” says Joubert.

He notes that the impact falls most heavily on the poor and vulnerable. “The result is that access to water in many areas remains a theoretical right rather than an operational reality.”