Theme: water_pricing
Responsible: Department of Water and Sanitation
Policy instrument is well-established with a functioning institutional home (NHFC). Constraints are fiscal (insufficient capitalisation) and administrative (cumbersome process). Digital simplification and employer integration are achievable with moderate investment. The programme is politically popular but delivery lags demand.
South Africa's raw water pricing — the charges levied by DWS for water abstracted from state water schemes (dams, reservoirs, and inter-basin transfer infrastructure) and supplied to municipalities, industries, and agriculture — is managed through the Water Trading Entity (WTE). The existing pricing structure has been criticised for systematic under-recovery of operating and capital costs, leading to infrastructure maintenance underfunding. The Raw Water Pricing Strategy reform aims to introduce cost-reflective tariffs that recover full operating and maintenance costs while providing transparent cross-subsidies for poor households and smallholder farmers.
"The First Home Finance Programme aims to assist low- to middle-income households who do not qualify for RDP housing but struggle to secure commercial mortgages. The programme offers a sliding-scale subsidy based on income, with eligibility ranging from R3 501 to R22 000 per month." — Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements, June 2025
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How to cite
Wilse-Samson, L. (2026). Raw Water Pricing Strategy Reform. SA Policy Space. NYU Wagner School of Public Policy. Retrieved 11 May 2026, from https://sa-policy-space.vercel.app/ideas/raw-water-pricing-strategy-reform?snapshot=2026-05-11
Data as of 2026-05-11 · latest PMG meeting 2026-05-08
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