The water tanker has become the ubiquitous symbol of the collapse of municipal water systems in South Africa’s towns and cities. The sums of public money paid to water tanker owners are mind-boggling, serving as a costly reminder of the high price we are all paying for incompetence and corruption.
Tshwane appears to lead the pack in splashing out for tankers, even as its water supply system degenerates. According to reports, Tshwane spent R777m on water tankers in the municipal financial year ended June 2025. Not only is that R457m over its budget, but it is also a whopping R672m more than the year before.
The city’s splurge is said to be a result of large-scale maintenance undertaken by bulk-water supplier Rand Water in July 2024, yet the steep increase in spending through opaque contracts with fly-by-night suppliers also coincides with the advent of an ANC-led coalition local government.
Amid the splashing out on water tankers, the city’s own information about its water supply system speaks volumes, seeming to prove public suspicion that powerful interests in municipalities have something to gain from the water crisis.
According to a recent Tshwane metro council report, water losses last year totalled the equivalent of R1.9bn. The average time to repair water leaks rose from two days in 2010/11 to 26 days in 2024/25. The number of reported leaks increased from 39,978 to 59,735. And while the city needs R3.3bn to replace ageing pipes, only R60m has been set aside for this purpose.
The business of providing water needs to be properly ring-fenced, professionalised and corporatised, so that funds for maintenance and infrastructure are available
Joburg’s experience with water tankers is at least as depressing. The city awarded a contract in late 2024 worth R263m to two unknown companies. When a rival bidder contested this decision, the high court ruled the contract invalid, prompting the city to approach the Supreme Court of Appeal. This meant the contract remained in place for the next two years or until a ruling was handed down. The rival bidder had to approach the court again to get details of contracts awarded by the city, such is the secrecy surrounding these tanker deals.
According to Ferrial Adam, executive director of the water lobby group WaterCAN, “Tanker-use has become normalised. In many areas, it is no longer emergency relief. It is routine.”
While Tshwane and Joburg are constantly in the headlines for water supply problems, the water tanker scourge has gone national, with dozens of small towns relying on tankers while their own supply systems lie in ruins, destroyed by incompetence, corruption and mismanagement.
Just this week, in the Alfred Nzo municipality in the Eastern Cape, a Special Investigating Unit probe found the municipality had awarded a R75m water tanker contract without budget approval, leading to a R60.7m loss for the municipality through overcharging and excessive profit margins. Nine people were arrested and charged with fraud, corruption and money laundering.
Water is essential for life, and if there is no reliable piped supply, tankers will be needed. The business of providing water needs to be properly ring-fenced, professionalised and corporatised so that funds for maintenance and infrastructure are available.
Tankers should be a last resort, but the way things stand now, unscrupulous and avaricious figures in local government have everything to gain from the deterioration in municipal supply systems. Until water is rightly regarded as a universal right and not an opportunity for enrichment and political point-scoring, our water capacity will continue to fall apart while connected individuals capitalise on the suffering and inconvenience of citizens.
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