As South Africa gears up for the municipal elections, the writer asks if new councils will break the cycle of ineptitude surrounding water and sanitation, or or if history will repeat itself come 2031. Ambitious plans outlined in the Draft White Paper on Local Government provide the opportunity to break that pattern.
Before the next municipal election on November 4, South Africans will cast their votes knowing what the past five years have delivered: a Gauteng water crisis that left the country's economic heartland without water for weeks, a Knysna reservoir approaching empty, and a Green Drop Report confirming that nearly half of our wastewater treatment systems are in a critical state. The question everyone is asking is reasonable. Will a new council actually change this, or will we be having the same conversation in 2031?
The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) has spent significant time analysing the Draft White Paper on Local Government, where comments were submitted on May 28, 2026. Our view of the White Paper is that it correctly identifies what is broken, and with the right implementation architecture, it has the potential to become the document that finally changes things on the ground.
