The Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation has expressed concern over water services authorities’ continued noncompliance in submitting and implementing corrective action plans.

This undermined commitments by role-players to implement the resolutions adopted at the National Water and Sanitation Indaba, said committee chairperson Leon Basson during a briefing on the full 2025 Green Drop, Blue Drop and No Drop Progress reports.

“The inability or unwillingness to implement those commitments will undermine efforts to improve the system, reduce nonrevenue water, rehabilitate infrastructure and restore wastewater systems to full functionality.”

The corrective action plans are particularly important amid the findings of the 2025 Green Drop Progress report, which shows an increase in the number of wastewater systems in a critical state - 344, or 39%, in the 2022 Green Drop Report, to 396, or 47%, in 2025.

The wastewater systems classified as excellent or good performers declined from 118, or 14%, in 2022, to 66 systems, or 8%, in 2025.

Drinking water quality, as reported in the 2025 Blue Drop report, improved marginally, with the proportion of low-risk systems increasing from 60.2% to 61.9%, while critical-risk systems declined from 9.9% to 7.9%.

However, the committee remains concerned that the national average level of nonrevenue water has remained virtually unchanged at 47.3%, compared with 47.4% in the 2023 No Drop report.

“This points to a system that remains in crisis and requires a hands-on approach to turn it around. It is deeply concerning that there appears to be a nonchalant attitude towards addressing identified weaknesses. Water services authorities must treat these risks as urgent and requiring focused attention. Failure to do so could result in the complete collapse of the water value chain,” Basson warned.

The committee also raised concerns about the continued pollution of rivers and streams, particularly as a result of poorly maintained municipal wastewater treatment systems.

It called on the Department of Water and Sanitation to continue engaging with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and the Office of the Chief Justice on the possibility of establishing specialised environmental courts to ensure the effective prosecution of environmental offences.

In addition, the committee highlighted the persistent shortage of skilled personnel required to operate wastewater systems, noting that this directly affected the functionality and operational efficiency of the sector.

The committee was informed that, of the 2 431 process controllers required nationally, only 1 151 are currently employed. There is also a shortage of 84 supervisors across the system.

“This remains a serious indictment on the sector and undermines efforts to improve performance. For example, the Free State faces a process controller shortage of 68%, while the Northern Cape has a shortfall of 82%. These figures illustrate the significant risks facing the sector if urgent action is not taken,” said Basson.