The democratic alliance plans to take the city of johannesburg to court over its ongoing water crisis, citing mismanagement and potential undue benefits to tanker suppliers. Residents in areas like melville and brixton have protested the prolonged outages, while mayor dada morero denies the situation has reached national disaster levels. Nationally, minister pemmy majodina stated that r400 billion is needed to fix south africa's water infrastructure.
The water crisis in johannesburg intensified on 11 february 2026, prompting the democratic alliance (da) to announce plans for urgent legal action against the city. Da gauteng leader solly msimanga, along with helen zille and other party figures, held a press conference highlighting failing infrastructure, maintenance underspending since the early 2000s, and a r200-billion backlog in johannesburg alone. Zille noted 22 critically endangered water systems and four on the brink, emphasising that access to water is a constitutional right.
The da alleges that the quadrupled reliance on water tankers has diverted funds from infrastructure, with claims that suppliers may be sabotaging systems for profit, similar to issues in tshwane's hammanskraal. The party criticised the city's unfulfilled turnaround plan and proposed using excess water from the vaal dam, currently at 101.6% capacity, to produce an additional 280 megalitres daily during peaks. While calling for emergency funding, the da opposes declaring a state of disaster due to corruption risks.
Mayor dada morero, briefing from brixton reservoir, deployed 60 tankers and reported progress in selby, melville, emmarentia and brixton. He attributed strains to high consumption, illegal structures and a r27-billion funding backlog, with r1.7-billion budgeted this year and r32.5-billion needed over the next decade. Morero rejected national disaster status, stating the city continues supplying water despite pressures.
Protests erupted, with residents like 63-year-old susan jobson in melville struggling with basic tasks, and tamsin botha in brixton on day 14 without water. A resident confronted morero on 10 february, complaining of year-long nighttime outages. Johannesburg water denied 'day zero', but acknowledged high demand and constraints.
At a national level, water and sanitation minister pemmy majodina, speaking in emmarentia, estimated r400 billion required nationwide for municipal infrastructure. Deputy minister david mahlobo announced 'soft water restrictions' for johannesburg, ekurhuleni and tshwane to avert system collapse, affecting areas with current supply.