2 June 2026
The African National Congress (ANC) Parliamentary Study Group on Water and Sanitation welcomes the principled voting in favour of the Motion of Desirability [Rule 286 (4)(i) and (j) of the National Assembly Rules, 9th Edition] for the National Water Amendment Bill today, 2 June 2026.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) was left smarting in isolation as it sought to block this transformative piece of legislation from being advanced in Parliament.
This decisive vote clears the path for a robust, evidence-driven legislative process that will unfold from this amendment process to support economic recovery and reconstruction. It marks a crucial step toward dismantling the persistent structural inequalities of our colonial and apartheid past. This Bill seeks to fundamentally transform our country by healing the divisions of the past, recognizing historical injustices, and establishing a society based on democratic values, social justice, and fundamental human rights.
Based on that historical injustice, a select few were favoured. The time has come to end a system where access to certain sectors of the economy is restricted to a minority. This inequality cannot and must not be allowed to persist. We owe it to the architects of our Constitution, our nation, and future generations to ensure that water and its socio-economic benefits are no longer hoarded by a few, while the majority are denied access on the basis of race, class, and gender.
For decades, the democratic state has confronted the brutal mathematics of economic exclusion. Currently, a staggering 84% of South Africa’s agricultural water allocation is largely consumed by large commercial agricultural companies, while historically advantaged individuals hold 13%. Black historically disadvantaged individuals (HDIs) are left with a mere 3%. This intolerable disparity is a direct consequence of the 1913 Native Land Act and the Water Act of 1956, which bound water rights to land ownership, creating permanent racial monopolies. Even under our democratic framework, the continuation of “Existing Lawful Use” (ELWU) has allowed historic users to indefinitely hoard unutilized water or trade it as a private commodity.
The National Water Amendment Bill aggressively confronts these legacy structures by implementing a mandatory “use-it-or-lose-it” principle.
Crucially, the Bill institutes a complete ban on private water trading, restoring public sovereignty over our water resources and ensuring allocations prioritize social justice over private profit.
Furthermore, it elevates equity to a primary legal requirement under Section 27(1), allowing the Minister to set aside dedicated water reserves for HDIs.
While the ANC and other parties voted decisively to advance this transformation agenda, the DA chose to stall, stonewall, and actively obstruct a crucial Constitutional matter. By attempting to derail the Bill, the DA has once again exposed itself as a defender of elite interests and historic economic privilege. Their actions show a blatant disregard for Section 25(8) of the Constitution, which explicitly states that property clauses may not impede the state from taking legislative measures to redress past racial and gender discrimination. Land reform and true restitution are fundamentally impossible if historic water monopolies are left intact.
The ANC stands firm in its commitment to the 2024 Manifesto and the resolutions of the 55th National Conference.
Water is a sovereign public asset held in trust for all South Africans, not a private commodity for the highest bidder. We will not be deterred by political parties trying to shield colonial-apartheid privilege from necessary constitutional intervention.
The adoption of the Motion of Desirability marks the beginning of a relentless push to unlock development, accelerate agricultural transformation, and buttress the agenda for the creation of a National Democratic Society.
Issued by Whip of ANC Study Group on Water and Sanitation, Cde Sello Dithebe
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