Watershed Moments: Philanthropy, Policy Failure, and the Urban Water Crisis in Johannesburg and Pretoria
Johannesburg and Pretoria’s water disruptions have tipped from persistent strain into a systemic urban crisis. In this article, Oratile Mokase unpacks how ageing infrastructure, financial instability, and governance gaps are combining to produce prolonged outages, public anger, and widening inequality. The piece also points to a strategic role for philanthropy, moving beyond emergency relief toward accountability, community power, and practical innovation that supports long term water justice.