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[QUOTE="Queen, post: 88330, member: 27"]
Decades of busted pipes and neglected infrastructure, not drought, are why millions of South Africans still lack reliable water.

Mahlobo owns up to the neglect
[LIST]
[*]Deputy Minister David Mahlobo blamed years of poor maintenance.
[*]He spoke at the 2026 Unisa Water Imbizo in Roodepoort.
[*]Full dams mean nothing when pipes leak half the supply.
[*]Crumbling treatment plants worsen an already grim situation.
[/LIST]
Communities are bearing the brunt
[LIST]
[*]Hammanskraal residents went nearly 20 years without clean tap water.
[*]Rooiwal's failed wastewater plant has been polluting rivers.
[*]Johannesburg suburbs faced prolonged dry spells and zero pressure.
[*]Some tanker operators charge struggling families for basic supplies.
[/LIST]
Big-money fixes are on the table
[LIST]
[*]Municipalities need roughly R400 billion for system upgrades.
[*]A National Water Resource Infrastructure Agency is planned.
[*]Mahlobo pitched wastewater reuse as a circular-economy play.
[*]Japan's water management practices got flagged as a model.
[/LIST]
Accountability stays the core issue
[LIST]
[*]Skills shortages cripple the local government's maintenance capacity.
[*]Funds often vanish before reaching actual infrastructure projects.
[*]Mahlobo wants stronger oversight so money hits its targets.
[*]National Water Month framed the whole conversation on Tuesday.
[/LIST]
[/QUOTE]

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