Gauteng residents face years of stricter water rationing despite recent good rains, with authorities warning that relief will not come until multiple critical conditions are met and consumption is drastically reduced.
Gauteng metros exceeding water allocation limits
Rand Water consumption data reveals alarming overuse across Gauteng’s metropolitan municipalities.
According to the utility’s monitoring system, when the blue line representing actual consumption rises above the red line showing the agreed consumption limit, metros are using more water than their licensed allocation with Rand Water.
The green line indicates the sustainable supply target that municipalities should be working toward.
Recent figures show the combined weekly consumption for the three metropolitan municipalities reached 3 664 megalitres (ML) per day on 12 January 2026, far exceeding both the permanent agreement of 3 045ML per day and the temporary target of 3 431ML per day.
This represents a 6.8% overconsumption from the temporary target alone.
Johannesburg Water led the overuse at 1 763ML per day on 12 January 2026, surpassing its permanent allocation of 1 356ML per day by a significant margin and exceeding even the temporary target of 1 528ML per day by 15.4%.
Tshwane Municipality consumed 864ML per day against a permanent target of 667ML, while Ekurhuleni Municipality used 1 037 ML per day, just above its permanent limit of 1 022ML per day.
“Metros with high consumption (blue line above the red line) are encouraged to enhance their water conservation campaigns and collaborate with communities to reduce water usage,” Rand Water urged.
[In Graphs]1/4
The Red line in the graph represents Rand Water’s consumption agreement with the Metros.The Blue line in the graph shows the consumption patterns/trends (up and down the red line) of the Metros. @CityTshwane @City_Ekurhuleni @CityofJoburgZA @DWS_RSA @JHBWater pic.twitter.com/yh6TAyQzuu
— Rand Water (@Rand_Water) January 14, 2026
ALSO READ: Knysna still faces critical water shortage as Level 4 restrictions remain in place
Residents warned to slash water use
After these figures were released, Sean Phillips, the director-general of the Department of Water and Sanitation, issued a warning about the province’s unsustainable water consumption patterns.
“Gauteng needs to bring its per capita consumption down a lot. Overall, Gauteng residents use an average of 279 litres of water per day per person. This needs to be more in the region of the Western Cape’s average consumption of 164 litres per person per day,” Phillips stated, according to News24.
He emphasised that in Gauteng, the core issue is not water scarcity but a combination of issues. These are overconsumption; the lack of municipal storage facilities, which causes the prolonged outages; water lost through leaking pipes and water that revenue is not collected for; and not enough supply from the Lesotho Highlands Water Project.
The warning comes as the Vaal Dam experienced a slight decline from 101.26% capacity on Sunday, 18 January 2025, to 100.88% on Monday.
The Reservoir, a water resource information centre for the catchment management forums of the Upper Vaal Water management area, recommended closing the last gate at the Vaal Dam at 10am and thereafter operating on valve discharge only on Monday.
ALSO READ: Vaal Dam water levels surge above capacity amid heavy summer rains
No quick relief in sight
Phillips outlined the conditions that must be met before Gauteng residents will see an improved water supply. These are:
- Non-revenue water, defined as water lost through leaking pipes and uncollected revenue, must be reduced significantly.
- Municipal storage capacity, including reservoirs, needs expansion. Water rationing must be implemented across affected areas.
- Water restrictions are implemented.
- Finally, supply will only increase when the Lesotho Highlands Project II becomes operational, now expected in 2028 or 2029.
“There isn’t just one solution. All of these things need to happen together. One or two of them is not enough,” Phillips stressed.
He clarified that only municipalities have the authority to implement water restrictions, placing responsibility for enforcement squarely at the local government level.
READ NEXT: Rainfall season boosts South African dam levels as most rise above 100%
