Water
Air and water pollution harming Joburg’s poorest communities
Failing wastewater treatment works, ageing sewage infrastructure, smouldering illegal dumps, industrial and urban runoff and a legacy of mining activities have ruined Joburg’s air and water
Text by Seth Thorne. Photos by Ihsaan Haffejee.
News | 30 July 2026
At 86, Limpopo farmer still waiting for promised irrigation water
Shortcomings and delays with the Giyani Water Project has left small-scale farmers without reliable irrigation
Brief | 29 July 2026
Elections 2026: Dawid Kruiper Municipality battling water leaks and sewage spills
The Special Investigating Unit is looking into “allegations of serious maladministration” involving 24 contracts at the municipality
By Liezl Human
Feature | 23 July 2026
Unpaid contractors block water services depot in Durban
The water and sanitation contractors say they are ignored by eThekwini Municipality
By Joseph Bracken and Tsoanelo Sefoloko
Brief | 20 July 2026
Time to pay up: a look at municipal debt
More than R161-billion owed for electricity, water and taxes
Chart by The Outlier. Text by GroundUp Staff.
Charts | 17 July 2026
Water contractors blame eThekwini for reneging on promise for pay them months ago
Municipality says it still needs to verify which companies need to be paid
Brief | 10 July 2026
Union marches over failing municipalities
“When municipalities collapse, communities suffer” says SAMWU
Brief | 9 July 2026
R50-million Humansdorp sewage plant fails key standards, says department
Kouga municipality insists the facility is operating within standards but failed to provide test results
News | 30 June 2026
Water tankers everywhere in Joburg, yet surprisingly hard to find
Johannesburg deploys dozens of tankers daily during outages. We tried to find them
By Seth Thorne
News | 26 June 2026