Durban and Joburg worst hit by water outages

Most South African households now have piped water. In 2025, 76% had a tap inside their home or on their property, according to Stats SA’s General Household Survey. But in 2025, more than a third of households (about 38%) had water outages lasting two days or more.

The eight metros did slightly better than the national average: 30% of their households reported long outages.

Cape Town had the smallest share of households reporting long outages, at 8%. eThekwini had the largest, at 44%.

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Johannesburg was next, at 40%, followed by Nelson Mandela Bay (38%), Buffalo City (33%), Tshwane (31%), Mangaung (24%) and Ekurhuleni (22%).

The main reason for the outages is old, poorly maintained pipes that leak and burst. A lot of water is lost before it ever reaches people’s taps. In eThekwini, for example, 61% of the city’s water is lost to leaks and illegal connections, or is never billed, according to the Auditor-General. In Cape Town, which has the fewest outages, about a quarter is lost, according to Department of Water and Sanitation figures.

The losses are expensive. National Treasury’s latest review of municipal finances found that the metros together lost nearly R8.7 billion worth of water in the 2023/24 financial year. Nationally, the share of water lost or never paid for (non-revenue water) rose from 37% in 2014 to 47% in 2023, according to the No Drop report. The international average is about 30%.

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Other causes include problems with bulk water supply (the water piped in from dams and other sources), pressure management and how quickly repairs are made.

Chart produced by The Outlier in partnership with GroundUp.

© 2026 GroundUp. This article was first published here.

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