NATIONAL WATER ACT, 36 OF 1998: NOTICE TO REGISTER WATER USE IN TERMS OF THE ACT
Notice Title: National Water Act, 36 of 1998 (“NWA”): Notice to Register Water Use in Terms of the Act
Government Notice: GN 7408 in GG 54575 on 24 April 2026
Commencing date: 24 April 2026
The Minister of Water and Sanitation, in terms of regulation 3(b)(i) of the Water Use Registration Regulations, GNR 1352 of 12 November 1999, requests all unregistered water users to register their water use.
For purposes of the Notice, unregistered water users refer to the following:
- Water user who bought property from a registered water user but never informed the responsible authority about the change for the substitution of the name.
- Water user who acquired property through the land restitution process, but the change of ownership was never reported to the Responsible Authority for the substitution of the name.
- Water user who are leasing on the property of another water user and/or property owner, where the owner did not register the water use.
- Water user who changed contact details (postal address, physical address, email address, landline, cell phone, fax number) but never informed the responsible authority about change.
- Water user who changed their registered name as appeared on their registration certificate but never informed the responsible authority for the substitution of the name.
- Water user who has boreholes and are using it for commercial purpose but the borehole(s) is not registered.
- Water user who registered their agricultural water use but never registered their resulting industrial water use(s).
The notice affects the following water uses as set out in section 21 of the NWA:
- Taking water from a water resource (i.e. river, borehole, dam etc.) – Section21(a) of NWA
- Engaging in a stream flow reduction activity contemplated in section 36 of the NWA – Section 21(d) of NWA.
The following water users are exempted from registration:
- A water user who falls under the area of operation of the water user association. If water user has borehole and is using it for commercial purpose– the water user must register the borehole with the Responsible Authority.
- Permissible use of water as set out in Schedule 1 of the NWA.
Affected persons have opportunity to register any unregistered water uses from 24 April 2026 until 23 July 2026. Person who fails to comply will be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years.
For a copy of the Government Gazette Notice click here: National Water Act: Notice to register water use
For more information or assistance please contact Jan Nel at jan@shangoni.co.za.
