• SADC reviews regional strategies to strengthen water security, resilience

• Nearly 40% lack safe water, 60% lack sanitation access

• Bloc targets 75% water access, expanded irrigation by 2027

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) opened a regional workshop in Johannesburg on Monday to review and endorse key strategies shaping the future of the water sector across the region.

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The Southern African Development Community (SADC) will host a regional workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 4 – 6 May 2026 to review and… pic.twitter.com/UdtQutpjf5

— SADC Secretariat (@SADC_News) May 3, 2026

Organized with support from the German government through GIZ under the German-SADC cooperation framework, and in partnership with the Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWPSA), the meeting is part of broader efforts to strengthen water security, climate resilience and sustainable development.

The agenda includes extending the fifth Regional Strategic Action Plan (RSAP V) on water, securing funding for the SADC water management programme, revising the regional water protocol, updating the research agenda, launching a new human capacity development plan and advancing Phase III of the regional groundwater programme.

A region under growing water stress

Southern Africa remains one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change, facing recurring droughts and floods that disrupt agriculture and energy systems. Managing major transboundary river basins — including the Zambezi, Limpopo and Okavango — requires close coordination among member states, as storage, distribution and governance infrastructure remain uneven and underdeveloped.

According to SADC data, nearly 40% of the region’s population still lacks access to safe drinking water, while 60% do not have access to improved sanitation.

To address these challenges, SADC has gradually developed a regional framework for managing shared water resources, built around the protocol on shared watercourses, river basin commissions and the increasing use of groundwater as a strategic resource. The Regional Strategic Action Plan, structured in five-year cycles, is now the central policy tool, aiming to expand water access, support industrialisation and reduce climate vulnerability.

The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) is a key example of regional water cooperation. Led by South Africa and Lesotho, the project supplies water to the Vaal River system, which is critical to the water security of several South African provinces, including Gauteng. In May 2023, the two countries launched Phase II of the project at the Polihali Dam in Lesotho. The project’s first phase was completed in 2003 under a bilateral treaty.

Recommendations from the workshop will be submitted to a special session of the SADC Technical Committee on Water Resources for review and adoption. Through this initiative, the regional bloc aims to strengthen coordination around a resource now central to economic, social and environmental stability in Southern Africa.

SADC aims to increase access to safe drinking water and sanitation to at least 75% by 2027 and expand irrigated land from 7% to 20% of total irrigable land.

Charlène N’dimon