South Africa’s water tankers: A short-term fix fueling corruption

Across many cities and towns in South Africa, turning on a tap no longer guarantees water. Instead, trucks—known as water tankers—arrive to deliver water to communities facing shortages. But a new study warns that this stopgap measure is causing more harm than good. Researchers found that relying on water tankers has stalled repairs to broken pipes and, in some cases, opened the door to corruption. The report urges local governments to shift focus back to fixing the water infrastructure instead of depending on costly, temporary deliveries.