When President Cyril Ramaphosa unveiled the ANC’s 2026 municipal election manifesto in Diepsloot last weekend, Johannesburg residents eager for a solution to the city’s chronic water crisis were quickly disappointed.
The metro’s six million residents have become used to frequent water supply interruptions. Decades of neglect have produced days, weeks, and months without water for communities across the city. Johannesburg Water (JW), the municipal entity responsible for water and sanitation, is buckling under pressure.
How does the manifesto address the water crisis? In an ANC-run municipality, the document promises, “at least 8% of the value of every municipality’s assets [will be] invested annually in infrastructure maintenance and renewal”. The question is whether this commitment can meaningfully address the issue.
The eight-percent target matches a benchmark set by the National Treasury. Circular 71 of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) directs municipalities to allocate at least 8% of the value of their infrastructure assets to repairs. This might have been acceptable under normal circumstances. Not in 2026, when municipalities — Johannesburg included — are cash-strapped and limping.
Let us apply the eight-percent target to JW. As of June 2025, the entity holds assets worth R24.95 billion. It faces an infrastructure maintenance backlog of R26.61 billion. To align with the target, JW would have to spend at least R1.996 billion on maintenance each year. At this rate, it will take 13.3 years to catch up with the present backlog.
The envisioned pace of progress requires more time than JW has. The R26.61 billion backlog refers to assets requiring renewal or upgrade within two years or less. The clocks are running; the taps are not.
A serious approach to the water crisis requires significantly more investment in infrastructure. To clear the backlog within its five-year term, the incoming administration will have to allocate at least R5.322 billion annually (or 21.33% of asset value). That is more than double the amount promised by the ANC.
JW’s financial insecurity is well-known at this stage. The entity relies on income generated from the sale of water and sanitation services (R18.072 billion in 2025) and grants from the government (R1.417 billion in 2025; R1.96 billion allocated by City of Johannesburg for 2026/27). Not all of this goes towards infrastructure. There was even a period in July when, as Daily Maverick’s Yvonne Grimbeek reported, its bank balance dipped to zero. Maintenance is a luxury. This makes investment in infrastructure a tall order.
In 1995, the liberation party of Nelson Mandela envisioned a “better life for all”. Thirty-one years later, the corruption-tainted party of Cyril Ramaphosa promises to fix the local government it broke. Where the ambition to build once stood, sits the half-hearted pledge to maintain what remains.
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Image credit: Henk Kruger / Independent Newspapers
