The month of March marks the National Water Month in South Africa and is dedicated to highlighting the importance of managing water as a common good and building resilience for the future.
The month-long programme is observed annually on 1-31 March led by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), activating a series of activities across the country to advocate the Department’s response to challenges of water security, infrastructure maintenance and investment, recurrent droughts driven by climatic variation, inequities in access to water and sanitation, as well as deteriorating water quality.
The programme is conceptualised as an expansion of the United Nations (UN)’ World Water Day observed on 22 March annually. The day commemoration aims to highlight the importance of water and to raise awareness of people who continue to live without access to clean and safe water, using it as a basis for longer-term action involving governments across the globe to ensure that everyone in the world has access to safe water by 2030, while not impacting negatively on the environment.
National Water Month builds on this foundation, highlighting the value of freshwater and advocating for sustainable management of water for future generations.
This year’s theme is “Water and gender", with the slogan “Where Water Flows, Equality Grows”, centres women and girls in water solutions, ensuring their voices, leadership, and agency are fully recognised in water decision-making. The theme also highlights a transformative, rights-based approach to solving the water challenges.
In numerous communities, women and girls spend hours fetching water, limiting their time for education, work, and family care. Safe access to water eases these burdens, enhancing health, safety, and opportunities. When women and girls participate equally in water governance, services become more inclusive, sustainable, and effective. Water then transforms into a catalyst for a healthier, prosperous, and gender-equal future, benefiting us all.
The month of March is also Human Rights Month and coincides with International Women’s Day observed on 08 March annually, making the theme more relevant in elevating a rights-based approach to dealing with the current water challenges. Water as a fundamental human right is pivotal for advancing gender equality. In areas lacking safe drinking water, the scale of inequalities leans heavily against women and girls.
South Africa is currently faced with water supply challenges in many parts of the country due to systemic issues including poor or inadequate planning and investment, years of neglect of water supply infrastructure, rising water demand from economic and population growth, urbanisation, and unsustainable practices, intensified by pollution rendering water unfit for use.
In response to mounting demands and insufficient infrastructure, President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared water supply challenges a national crisis. During his State of the Nation Address (SONA) in February 2026, the President announced a comprehensive national intervention, drawing on the successful multi-agency model applied to stabilise the energy sector.
To centralise and accelerate recovery, government has established the National Water Crisis Committee, chaired by the President. This body will coordinate all state efforts to address the water crisis, drive the required reforms in the water sector, and deploy national resources and technical experts to struggling municipalities.
DWS is currently implementing various bulk water supply schemes in some parts of the country to ensure that there is sufficient potable water for municipalities to supply to communities.
The Department is also implementing large-scale water resource development projects nationally, which are progressing relatively well. It is also exploring further water project developments to augment the current available surface water, such as leveraging groundwater, desalination of seawater, protection of freshwater springs and wastewater reuse.
Throughout the month of March, activities will unfold across the country, led by the Ministry of Water and Sanitation assessing progress on various projects under implementation, gathering community members, experts, and innovators in a shared quest for fresh ideas and innovative thinking to find solutions to water security, conservation, pollution, climate change, as well as floods and droughts.
Through National Water Month, DWS will encourage entities, role players, partners and stakeholders as well as the general public to participate in a new orientation around the country’s water resources to ensure future sustainability, ensuring affordable and reliable access to safe water and sanitation for socio-economic growth, while respecting the environment.
Enquiries:
Spokesperson for the Department of Water and Sanitation
Wisane Mavasa
Cell: 060 561 8935
E-mail: mavasaw@dws.gov.za
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