Choose a view. The trend compares Nelson Mandela Bay across recent Stats SA household surveys; the second view compares metros in 2024.
Households reporting long water interruptions
Percent of households reporting water interruptions of at least two days. Survey estimates; small year-to-year movements can include sampling variation.
The reported rate moved from 46.0% in 2022 to 40.3% in 2024: a 5.7 percentage-point improvement, while still the worst metro result in 2024.
Latest count, 2025: Stats SA’s metro indicator table estimates 106,000 households whose consumers experienced an interruption of 48 hours or more, out of an estimated 395,545 households. This is a count, not a published percentage, and is not plotted as a like-for-like continuation of the survey-rate series.
Measure
Value
Coverage at scale—and the local distribution problem
The metro is estimated to serve 1.30 million people in 395,545 households (2025). Its city-wide averages hide sharp differences between wards and neighbourhoods.
What the coverage figures mean: Stats SA’s 2025 survey estimates 95.7% access to improved sanitation. The 2022 Census recorded 99.1% with piped water inside a dwelling, inside a yard, or at a community stand within 200m. These are access measures; outages and water quality must be reported separately.
106k
households affected by 48h+ interruption
2025 estimate, rounded
395.5k
estimated households in the metro
2025 benchmark
1.30m
estimated residents
2025 benchmark
60
wards in current municipal boundaries
Use ward-level reporting to surface gaps
Stats SA’s GHS is a household survey. It is useful for lived experience at metro scale; it does not provide a dependable ranking of every ward. A public municipal dashboard should publish operational service data by ward, with a clear denominator and update date.
