SONA 2026: Widespread, prolonged water outages expected to take centre stage

The ongoing water crisis in several parts of the country is expected to take centre stage during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday night.

Gauteng is the latest province to suffer severe supply shortages with dry taps since last month.

Government has indicated that while Ramaphosa’s address will cover a wide range of issues, the president is expected to specifically focus on the water crisis.

With Ramaphosa expected to outline the Government of National Unity (GNU)’s priorities for the year, political parties are anticipating that he will address plans to tackle water shortages in detail.

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The Democratic Alliance (DA)’s national spokesperson, Karabo Khakhau, said it would be inconsiderate for the president to ignore the crisis, especially as some communities are experiencing water outages at the same time as the SONA.

“We want to help fix the Water and Sanitation infrastructure, which is a massive need for our country and then ultimately, we want to hear how the president is going to fix the municipalities.”

But government spokesperson William Baloyi said the president will present plans to address the water supply challenges.

“As you might be aware, we are having service delivery challenges of water. The Minister of Water is in Johannesburg together with the Premier and the MEC for infrastructure and the mayor. They are inspecting some of the reservoirs.”

With members of Cabinet expected to attend the SONA, the Water and Sanitation Minister - Pemmy Majonia - has been instructed by the president to remain in Johannesburg.

She has been tasked with working alongside city teams to address the ongoing water cuts in parts of the metro.