{"id":49810,"date":"2026-11-03T08:41:36","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T06:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=49810"},"modified":"2026-11-03T08:41:36","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T06:41:36","slug":"sahrc-flags-systemic-failures-in-gauteng-water-sanitation-services","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/sahrc-flags-systemic-failures-in-gauteng-water-sanitation-services\/","title":{"rendered":"SAHRC flags systemic failures in Gauteng water sanitation services"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has found systemic failures in\u00a0Gauteng Province water and sanitation services, citing ageing infrastructure, poor maintenance, water losses and weak accountability.<\/div>\n<div>\nThe Commission has also raised concerns about the growing reliance on water tankers, warning that the system could be benefiting service providers and corrupt municipal officials at the expense of communities.<\/p>\n<p>The findings follow a three-day inquiry conducted in May 2026, after persistent complaints from communities struggling with unreliable water supply.<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\nThe Commission found that\u00a0Gauteng&#8217;s\u00a0water crisis goes beyond a shortage of water, pointing instead to ageing infrastructure, electricity interruptions, inadequate storage capacity and weaknesses in municipal distribution networks.<\/div>\n<div>\nIt has made eight recommendations, including\u00a0prioritising\u00a0failing wastewater treatment plants, strengthening bulk-water infrastructure and tightening the regulation of water tanker operations.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The Commission has also questioned the growing dependence on water tankers, warning that what should be an emergency intervention is increasingly becoming a permanent source of water for some communities.<\/div>\n<div>\nIt argues that the millions spent on tanker contracts could instead be directed towards repairing and upgrading failing infrastructure to provide sustainable water services.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8211;SABC&#8211;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":14342,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-49810","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"","published_date":"","news_description":"SAHRC has found systemic failures in\u00a0Gauteng Province water","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/49810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/49810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49812,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/49810\/revisions\/49812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=49810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}