By Khuleko Siwele.
South Africa plans to tap private investors to tackle the country’s water crisis by developing blended-finance projects and accelerating a pipeline of bankable infrastructure investments.
The push comes as deteriorating municipal water systems threaten public health and economic activity in Africa’s biggest economy.
The National Water Action Plan released by the presidency on Thursday said public funds would not be sufficient to address infrastructure backlogs alone. It sees supplementary capital being raised through public-private partnerships, performance-based contracts and management agreements, arguing that revenues from the sale of piped water can attract private-sector financing.
“Progress is already underway with major national water infrastructure projects worth R130 billion unblocked and now being implemented, largely through private sector financing,” according to the presidency.
Almost three quarters of water service authorities are rated poor or critical, and 81% of municipal wastewater infrastructure is in poor or critical condition. Nearly half of treated water is lost through leaks, theft or faulty metering before generating revenue, the document said.
The presidency said the crisis is a result of deteriorating infrastructure and collapsing municipal management, not water scarcity.
“Success will be reflected in the removal of key barriers to private-sector participation, enabling it to play a greater role in delivery.”
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