He warned that South Africa is entering a dangerous phase where chronic underinvestment, collapsing wastewater plants, leaks, and failing oversight could trigger cascading failures across cities and industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For households and businesses, the real danger lies in how abruptly these failures can materialise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no visibility of what is going to happen to your water supply until the catastrophic event happens, such as no water in the pipe, or you\u2019re notified of a major repair, and you\u2019ll be cut off,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Von Widdern argued that the problem is rooted in a poor understanding of the entire water value chain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe talk about the resource, the treatment, the distribution, and consumption. If you look at all those four segments carefully, one can do a lot better compared to the outcomes that we are facing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, failures are compounding across every stage of the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He highlighted that climate change has intensified these pressure,s but cannot be blamed as a sudden or unforeseen factor.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cClimate change is not sudden. It\u2019s been on our doorstep for the last 10 or 20 years,\u201d von Widdern said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that dam silting, driven by poor land use, overgrazing, and weak environmental management, has further reduced the system\u2019s ability to cope with heavy rainfall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf we\u2019re not looking after our land resources, we will add to the flooding problem, and the dams won\u2019t manage severe water spikes as they were planned to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The decay of infrastructure, however, is largely man-made. Von Widdern said decades of inconsistent and short-term investment decisions have hollowed out critical assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne of the key issues is inconsistent and non-strategic medium- to long-term investment,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf government departments or local authorities swing expenditure toward salaries and services and away from infrastructure maintenance and development, you will run out of infrastructure.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The biggest public service issue reported <\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/water-3-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nHe stressed that South Africa\u2019s vulnerability to extreme weather events is already evident, pointing to flooding in Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, and parts of the Kruger National Park. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen water levels rise 10 to 20 metres, and then you have an extreme problem,\u201d von Widdern noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aging floodlines, blocked stormwater systems, and unplanned development have only increased the damage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For businesses, von Widdern said the most urgent step is to rethink assumptions about water security. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He argued that on-site storage, rain harvesting, and shared bulk water systems in business parks will become essential. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWater storage on site and in commercial operations is going to be a new strategic requirement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He warned that without it, production-heavy industries face severe disruption as the national system continues to strain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Water outages have replaced load-shedding as the biggest public service issue reported on the popular South African app EskomSePush (ESP).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With load shedding on the decline, ESP has adapted its platform to allow users to report and share updates on service interruptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ESP Chats feature serves as an interactive community noticeboard for neighbourhoods to communicate about all types of events in their area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These include localised power cuts, water outages, Internet service disruptions, notifications about lost and found pets, and crime incidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nHe stressed that South Africa\u2019s vulnerability to extreme weather events is already evident, pointing to flooding in Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, and parts of the Kruger National Park. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen water levels rise 10 to 20 metres, and then you have an extreme problem,\u201d von Widdern noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aging floodlines, blocked stormwater systems, and unplanned development have only increased the damage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For businesses, von Widdern said the most urgent step is to rethink assumptions about water security. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He argued that on-site storage, rain harvesting, and shared bulk water systems in business parks will become essential. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWater storage on site and in commercial operations is going to be a new strategic requirement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He warned that without it, production-heavy industries face severe disruption as the national system continues to strain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Water outages have replaced load-shedding as the biggest public service issue reported on the popular South African app EskomSePush (ESP).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With load shedding on the decline, ESP has adapted its platform to allow users to report and share updates on service interruptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ESP Chats feature serves as an interactive community noticeboard for neighbourhoods to communicate about all types of events in their area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These include localised power cuts, water outages, Internet service disruptions, notifications about lost and found pets, and crime incidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n