South Africa: Durban and Joburg Worst Hit By Water Outages
These are the metros where long interruptions are most common
Most South African households now have piped water. In 2025, 76% had a tap inside their home or on their property, according to Stats SA’s General Household Survey. But in 2025, more than a third of households (about 38%) had water outages lasting two days or more.
The eight metros did slightly better than the national average: 30% of their households reported long outages.
Cape Town had the smallest share of households reporting long outages, at 8%. eThekwini had the largest, at 44%.
Johannesburg was next, at 40%, followed by Nelson Mandela Bay (38%), Buffalo City (33%), Tshwane (31%), Mangaung (24%) and Ekurhuleni (22%).
The main reason for the outages is old, poorly maintained pipes that leak and burst. A lot of water is lost before it ever reaches people’s taps. In eThekwini, for example, 61% of the city’s water is lost to leaks and illegal connections, or is never billed, according to the Auditor-General. In Cape Town, which has the fewest outages, about a quarter is lost, according to Department of Water and Sanitation figures.
The losses are expensive. National Treasury’s latest review of municipal finances found that the metros together lost nearly R8.7-billion worth of water in the 2023/24 financial year. Nationally, the share of water lost or never paid for (non-revenue water) rose from 37% in 2014 to 47% in 2023, according to the No Drop report. The international average is about 30%.
Other causes include problems with bulk water supply (the water piped in from dams and other sources), pressure management and how quickly repairs are made.
By GroundUp.
