South African corporates — which have partnered with the government to revive failing transport and energy networks — are in talks with the state to deal with water availability, which the head of the nation’s business lobby said was “the next crisis.”

“Does water supply and water provision have to be done by the public sector, or can it actually be done by the private sector,” Business Leadership South Africa Chief Executive Officer Busisiwe Mavuso said at an event at Bloomberg’s office in Johannesburg. “We are exploring this notion.”

Like South Africa’s power plants and transport networks, the country’s water-supply systems have deteriorated because of inadequate maintenance, a lack of planning for population growth, mismanagement, corruption and political infighting. Earlier this year, a large swath of Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city, was left without water for as long as 11 days after lightning hit a pump station.

Many of the nation’s municipalities are bankrupt, according to Mavuso, resulting in poor services, few repairs and little investment in new infrastructure. The government plans to use the second phase of Operation Vulindlela — a programme initiated in 2020 to remove blockages to investment — to focus on the “spiralling problem” of municipal debt, Johannesburg-based Business Day newspaper cited Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau as saying this week.

The Treasury in February proposed changes to the so-called regulation 16 of the nation’s Public Finance Management Act that will reduce the red tape for projects valued at less than R2-billion where the government partners with private businesses.

The amendments also introduce the concept of unsolicited proposals, where a company can pitch ideas for projects to a state institution instead of first waiting for the government to request bids.

With finances of the State and government-owned companies “hollowed out,” public-private partnerships “are the best chance we have,” Mavuso said.

Business Leadership South Africa’s members include the biggest companies that trade on Johannesburg’s stock exchange as well as BP, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Siemens AG.

BLSA’s partnership with the government has resulted in more than 350 private-sector experts working with various parts of the state. It’s resulted in the municipal debt-relief package, a reduction in the backlog of visas for foreign skilled workers, a strategy to improve the nation’s freight network and about R700-million of investment in key transport corridors.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has said his new government of national unity — which he formed after elections on May 29 failed to produce an outright winner — will prioritise economic growth.

The government will turn South Africa into a “construction site,” he said July 18 in his first policy speech since the election.

“We do have a willing government at the moment because for the first time, we are trying to put SA Inc. and her people first, and there is going to be a whole lot of that happening,” Mavuso said.