As thousands across the country battle an ongoing water crisis, reports indicate that South Africa cannot afford what the UN has deemed ‘water bankruptcy’.

Charlotte Metcalf, CEO of the South African National Bottled Water Association (SANBWA), says water bankruptcy is not driven by drought alone, echoing the UN’s warning that it is largely the result of human action.

“This is about years of poor planning, weak maintenance, pollution and over-extraction. A good rainy season does not fix a broken system.”

What is water bankruptcy?

Financial bankruptcy happens when you spend more money than you earn, so “water bankruptcy” refers to what happens when we use more water than nature can replenish.

In a report by the United Nations University (UNU), it argues that we have entered a post-crisis era.

In the past, droughts were seen as temporary “shocks”, meaning there would be bad years, but they would eventually pass, allowing rivers and dams to recover. However, these shortages are becoming chronic as ecosystems, rivers, and aquifers are losing the ability to return to “normal”.

If you thought Day Zero was bad, water bankruptcy is dire, and the damage is permanent – there will be no water. Once underground aquifers, rivers and wetlands are depleted or polluted beyond repair, the system is effectively “bankrupt”.

Metcalf said the UN’s warning should serve as a wake-up call for South Africa to protect water resources before they are lost forever: “Declaring water bankruptcy is not a call for panic. It’s about honesty. If we face the reality now, we can still change course. If we ignore it, the cost financially, socially and environmentally will be far higher.”

Who is affected?

The threat of water bankruptcy is worldwide, but the call to protect our water resources comes as municipalities across South Africa are struggling with water woes.

Cape Town residents have been urged to curb water consumption as dam levels decline. In Durban, several residential roads in Springtown have gone nine days without water, while protests have erupted in Johannesburg as anger mounts over severe shortages linked to crumbling infrastructure and poor maintenance.

Despite receiving relatively good rainfall, the affluent coastal town of Knysna has faced repeated water emergencies, which are widely attributed to years of mismanagement, delayed infrastructure upgrades, and rising demand from population growth and tourism.

Meanwhile, the Vaal River system has become increasingly compromised due to chronic sewage pollution, failing wastewater treatment plants, degraded wetlands, weak regulatory enforcement, and treatment costs that now exceed many municipalities’ financial capacity.

Furthermore, water bankruptcy affects food prices, household water reliability, public health and economic stability. Farmers would especially feel the brunt of the crisis and crops would die. Another study highlighting the worldwide risk of water bankruptcy, predicts that over 753 million people globally could be exposed to Day Zero Droughts, with urban populations—like those in Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town—being particularly vulnerable.

It’s worth stressing that it is not just the weather—it’s us. The situation is even more bleak when we understand that it’s not entirely just a ‘nature’ problem. The scientists emphasise that this is not just bad luck with the weather. It is “anthropogenic,” meaning human-caused. Climate change is disrupting the water cycle, but our increasing demand for water is what pushes a drought into a “Day Zero” disaster.

The UN report suggests that fixing this requires a total overhaul of how we view water. We need to protect our “natural capital, the wetlands, soils, and aquifers that naturally store water, rather than just building more concrete pipes.

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