Research Article

The Effects of Water Tanker Mafias and Illegal Connections to South Africa as a Water Scarce Country

Tumiso Mokhomole 1 *
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1 Forensic Investigations Directorate, Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Pretoria 0001, South Africa* Corresponding Author
International Journal of Social Sciences and Artistic Innovations, 6(2), June 2026, 14-29, https://doi.org/10.35745/ijssai2026v06.02.0007
Submitted: 15 April 2025, Published: 30 June 2026
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ABSTRACT

This paper seeks to investigate the effects of water tanker mafias as well as illegal connections in South Africa as a water scarce country. Where there are no opportunities, water takers mafias damage key water infrastructure to derail the main supply while contracted by municipalities on emergency basis to render water as a basic necessities, which further becomes difficult for the law enforcement to investigate and make arrests due to the operational complexity of this criminal syndicate. The researcher adopted a descriptive and qualitative research approach to collect data detailing the effects of water tanker mafias and illegal connections in South Africa as a water scarce country. Data was selected purposively, contextual and thematically analysed mostly from secondary sources and to some extent from primary sources through observation. It was found that water mafias tamper with water infrastructure in order to disrupt water supply so that they can be contracted by municipalities to deliver water to the communities through water tankers. As things stand, the executive and its functionaries only talks tough on illegal connections and water tanker mafias which contribute significantly on Non-Revenue Water (NRW) with no actions to effect their talks, thus, resulting in South Africa continuing to experience water supply issues similar to the electricity crisis. The problem of water crisis has been diagnosed by experts, engineers and researchers, but with no follow up action by the government.
Keywords: Water tanker mafias, Infrastructure, Illegal connections, Water crisis, Projects, Leaks

CITATION (APA)

Mokhomole, T. (2026). The Effects of Water Tanker Mafias and Illegal Connections to South Africa as a Water Scarce Country. International Journal of Social Sciences and Artistic Innovations, 6(2), 14-29. https://doi.org/10.35745/ijssai2026v06.02.0007

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