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\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u2019s General Household Survey. But in 2025, more than a third of households (about 38%) had water outages lasting two days or more.<\/p>\n
The eight metros did slightly better than the national average: 30% of their households reported long outages.<\/p>\n
Cape Town had the smallest share of households reporting long outages, at 8%. eThekwini had the largest, at 44%.<\/p>\n
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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%).<\/p>\n
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\u2019s taps. In eThekwini, for example, 61% of the city\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
The losses are expensive. National Treasury\u2019s 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%.<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
Chart produced by The Outlier in partnership with GroundUp. <\/p>\n
\u00a9 2026 GroundUp. This article was first published here.<\/p>\n
#Durban #Joburg #worst #hit #water #outages<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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