Covid-19 Lockdown in South Africa: A Reminder that some Communities are still Brawling to have access to Clean and Constant Water Supply

The COVID-19 lockdown began in South Africa on March 27, 2020. It has undeniably exposed service delivery challenges that communities are still confronted with. The media was showing some of the areas around South Africa that were still struggling to have access to clean and reliable water supply at the beginning of the lockdown. This was amply proven when some citizens argued that they could not afford to stay in their homes while having to fetch water in other neighbouring areas using cars, donkey carts, and wheelbarrows. In light of this, the purpose of this article was to indicate and highlight the fact that there are still communities that struggle to have access to clean and reliable water supplies. The paper used case studies from the COVID-19 lockdown, with a focus on three provinces: Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal. The article relied heavily on secondary sources, such as newspapers, dissertations, journal articles, and academic books. The article is based on the Negativity Theory-Customer Satisfaction, which describes how community members suffer when the government fails to provide water services. Nonetheless, the main finding of this paper is that water shortage is a recurring problem in some parts of the country. Even in previous years, communities have struggled to gain access to safe drinking water. As a result, some members of the community purchase water. Others, meanwhile, are using their cars and wheelbarrows to fetch water from the river and other areas within and outside their jurisdiction. In light of this, the paper concludes by arguing that the government should stop providing temporary solutions to never-ending problems, particularly with regard to water services across the country.