Over three days of hearings, Gauteng residents, Johannesburg Water and Rand Water laid out the human and financial cost of the province’s water crisis. The commission now says the crisis has reached disaster levels.
From 19 to 21 May 2026, the South African Human Rights Commission heard evidence in its investigative inquiry into Gauteng’s water crisis. The inquiry, announced in April after the commission was flooded with complaints, is testing whether prolonged outages, failing infrastructure and inconsistent access to clean water amount to systemic violations of the constitutional right to sufficient water. What emerged over three days was a picture of a system under attack from neglect, crime and money flowing in the wrong direction.
Residents speak
Some of the most powerful evidence came from residents. People from Orange Farm and from Phumlamqashi, south of Lenasia, described going for months without reliable water. They accused some tanker operators of charging residents for water that is supposed to be free, of serving those who could pay first, and of arriving late at night, which raised safety concerns for women and children who had to go out to collect water in the dark.
Johannesburg Water disputed that some communities had been completely without water, but its managing director, Ntshavheni Mukwevho, confirmed that the utility had received reports of water being sold, and that two incidents, one in the east and one in the west of the city, were under investigation.
R130 million a year on tankers
The hearings put a clear number on Johannesburg’s dependence on tankers. Johannesburg Water spends close to R130 million a year on water tankers, most of which serve informal settlements and areas hit by unplanned outages. City manager Floyd Brink confirmed the figure when the city gave evidence on the final day. Earlier reporting has shown that the city has spent more than R650 million on tankers over five years, and that a R263 million tanker contract awarded in 2024 was declared invalid by the high court in December 2025.
Mukwevho told the commission that Johannesburg Water is trying to break that dependence. It has bought 20 branded tankers of its own and ordered 20 more, and plans to take over tanker operations from private contractors and drill boreholes in informal settlements. He said it would take another 12 to 18 months to fully remove private water service providers, and acknowledged that relying on tankers cannot continue indefinitely.
Armed gangs and stripped plants
The evidence also exposed how crime is compounding the crisis. Mukwevho said criminal syndicates are targeting the city’s water infrastructure, and described an attack in which armed criminals struck the Olifantsvlei wastewater treatment plant and stripped parts of it. Johannesburg Water has increased security and deployed armoured vehicles at some facilities.
He also pointed to illegal connections at communal standpipes in informal settlements, which overload local systems and cause outages. Together with ageing pipes, these pressures help explain why repairs often fail to restore supply for long.
The bulk supplier’s view
Rand Water’s chief executive, Sipho Mosai, gave the commission the bulk supplier’s perspective. He said municipalities should receive at least 21 days’ notice before planned maintenance, and that high-lying areas often take longer to recover afterwards. He told the inquiry that about a third of the water Rand Water supplies to Gauteng is lost to leaks. And he revealed the scale of municipal debt: municipalities collectively owe Rand Water about R9 billion, with Emfuleni alone owing close to R1.9 billion.
Those debts matter because Rand Water must fund its own maintenance and expansion. When municipalities do not pay, the bulk system that supplies the whole province comes under pressure.
The questions that went unanswered
The City of Johannesburg’s evidence did not satisfy everyone. Brink acknowledged that the city does not always get things right and said it was cutting non-essential spending, but he did not explain what had happened to the R4 billion that was redirected from Johannesburg Water to the city’s general accounts, the issue that has dominated the water debate since September 2025.
What happens next
At the close of the hearings, the commission said the crisis had reached disaster levels. It will now assess whether constitutional rights have been violated and decide on its findings and recommendations. It is also considering asking the Special Investigating Unit to look into possible sabotage and collusion between municipal officials and the tanker industry. SAHRC Commissioner Henk Boshoff has described the tanker problem as a brazen form of financial mismanagement that has turned a temporary emergency measure into an exploitative business.
The inquiry has already done something valuable. It has placed on the public record, under formal process, the testimony of residents and the admissions of the institutions responsible for their water. The test will be whether its findings lead to action: an end to the tanker racket, faster repairs, protection for infrastructure and, above all, reliable water for the communities that have waited longest.
References
TimesLIVE: Armed gangs, ageing pipes and tanker costs strain Joburg water system, commission hears (21 May 2026): https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2026-05-21-armed-gangs-ageing-pipes-and-tanker-costs-strain-joburg-water-system-commission-hears/
eNCA: SAHRC wraps up probe into Gauteng water crisis (May 2026): https://www.enca.com/news-top-stories/sahrc-wraps-probe-gauteng-water-crisis
IOL: SAHRC holds inquiry into Gauteng’s water crisis following tanker mafia claims (19 May 2026): https://iol.co.za/news/politics/2026-05-19-sahrc-holds-inquiry-into-gautengs-water-crisis-following-tanker-mafia-claims/
GroundUp: Johannesburg won’t say who its water tanker suppliers are: https://groundup.org.za/article/johannesburg-wont-say-who-its-water-tanker-suppliers-are/
Independent on Saturday: Human Rights Commission starts probe into Gauteng’s water crisis (18 May 2026): https://independentonsaturday.co.za/news/south-africa/2026-05-18-human-rights-commission-starts-probe-into-gautengs-water-crisis/