South Africa’s escalating water outages are being driven primarily by failing infrastructure rather than water scarcity, and the country is facing a critical turning point requiring urgent engineering intervention to prevent further service delivery collapse.

Recent national assessments showed that about 47% of treated water was lost before reaching consumers – significantly higher than the global average of about 30% – largely owing to leaks, ageing pipelines, illegal connections and inadequate maintenance, said South African engineering firm AvenirHoldings CEO Tshidi Mndzebele.

“These shortages are not primarily caused by a lack of water. South Africa treats substantial volumes of water successfully. The failure occurs within municipal distribution systems where infrastructure has exceeded its engineering lifespan.”

The financial impact is severe, with the Auditor-Generals findings indicating that municipalities lost R14.89-billion worth of water in one year, highlighting the economic cost of infrastructure deterioration.

Government estimates suggest more than R400-billion is required to rehabilitate municipal water and sanitation infrastructure nationwide, while many water projects face delays of several years owing to capacity and planning challenges.

According to Mndzebele, the crisis reflected long-term underinvestment in lifecycle maintenance rather than a sudden system failure.

“For decades, maintenance has been reactive instead of proactive. Engineering systems require continuous asset management. Without it, infrastructure inevitably fails.”

Water sector audits further show that a large proportion of wastewater treatment plants are operating below required standards, creating environmental and public health risks while placing additional pressure on already strained systems.

Mndzebele believes that immediate stabilisation is achievable through targeted engineering interventions rather than waiting for large new infrastructure projects.

These include pressure management systems, advanced leak detection and repair programmes, smart monitoring technology and structured infrastructure maintenance planning.

“Before building new dams or pipelines, we must stop losing the water we already have. Reducing losses can significantly increase available supply in a short period,” she commented.

AvenirHoldings is advocating stronger collaboration between government, municipalities and engineering professionals to professionalise infrastructure management and implement performance-based maintenance systems.

With water reliability increasingly affecting economic activity, investor confidence and community stability, Mndzebele said engineering expertise must play a central role in national decision-making.

“Water security is fundamentally an infrastructure issue, and infrastructure problems are solvable when engineering solutions are prioritised.”