“Instead of reducing inequalities in our society, the water crisis has made it even worse because we have to find alternative ways of accessing water,” said Magadla, an activist with the Uthando Lwendalo Environmental Movement and a coordinator for WaterCAN in the Eastern Cape. More than three decades into democracy, the promise of dignity and basic services remains out of reach for many South Africans. Across provinces, communities describe a daily struggle for safe, reliable water — one that is deepening inequality, fuelling frustration and in some cases, sparking conflict.

In Magadla’s household of 15 people, water has become an additional monthly expense rather than a guaranteed service. “We have to budget for water as an extra item, while already paying for municipal services.” Similar experiences are reported in the Free State, where activists working with the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission say communities face persistent contamination and unreliable supply. In February, more than 100 families in Marakong village in QwaQwa faced a serious public health emergency after live bloodworms were reported and confirmed in water flowing from household taps, water watchdog, WaterCAN, said.

Water activist Tabi Moloi, the coordinator for the Catholic Justice and Peace in QwaQwa, said samples were taken but results had yet to be shared by authorities. “When water is not provided, we don’t enjoy the freedom of being citizens of that area.” In the absence of reliable supply, many households rely on water tankers, which often arrive late or are forced to collect water from wells and mountain sources, some contaminated by sewage spillages. Moloi said the issue was not always scarcity but delivery.

“There is plenty of water in our areas because we have three dams that are able to supply our area. The challenge is the infrastructure and the political interference.” Both activists point to failing infrastructure, lack of technical capacity and corruption. “Water treatment plants are being vandalised because of tender mafias,” Magadla said.

The consequences are glaring — from illness linked to contaminated water to disruptions in schooling. In some cases, frustration has boiled over into protest. In the Free State, some communities have burnt JoJo tanks.

In the Eastern Cape, activists are preparing for further demonstrations, including a planned march in Makhanda, over the installation of prepaid smart water meters, next week. Makhanda’s water crisis is a long-running failure of ageing infrastructure and repeated breakdowns that has left residents facing chronic shortages and unsafe supply. Dr Henk Boshoff, a commissioner at the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), said the gains made since 1994 in expanding access to water could not be ignored.

He pointed to national data showing that access has improved over time. The General Household Survey of 2024 indicates that 87.7% of households now have access to piped or tap water, compared with 84.4% in 2002. But the progress masked a worsening crisis in service delivery.

“However, these gains are overshadowed by significant challenges the country faces regarding access to quality and reliable supply of water for many people in the country,” he said. Boshoff added that the water crisis had reached such severity that the government had acknowledged it at the highest level, through President Cyril Ramaphosa’s establishment of a national water crisis committee. He described water as central to the realisation of multiple constitutional rights.

“Water is the lifeblood of human existence and plays a crucial role in the attainment of several human rights, such as healthcare, children’s rights, human dignity and education.” Yet the lived reality for many households told a different story. According to the commission’s findings, access was often inadequate, unreliable or unsafe — a situation that was not confined to isolated areas. “The water crisis is not a localised phenomenon but is widespread, affecting and disrupting the lives of several households in the country,” he said.

“Hence, as the SAHRC, we have called for the water crisis to be declared a national disaster.” Against this backdrop, Boshoff is unequivocal that the country’s water situation falls short of the democratic promise marked by Freedom Day. “Access to water in South Africa currently does not reflect the promise of freedom,” he said. “The dream of freedom remains an illusory one as a significant proportion of our population continues to lack access to clean, sufficient and reliable water.” There could be no meaningful freedom where basic dignity was unde