Borehole Registration and Permits in South Africa

National Water Act (Act 36 of 1998)

Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS)

The national law for all water use, including taking groundwater through a borehole.

• The national government holds the nation's water, including groundwater, as public trustee (section 3). A landowner has a use entitlement, not ownership of the water.
• Schedule 1 allows reasonable domestic use in your household, small gardening not for commercial purposes, and watering animals (excluding feedlots) that graze on your land within its grazing capacity, if the use is not excessive in relation to the capacity of the water resource and the needs of other users.
• Schedule 1 has no litres-per-day figure. An entitlement under Schedule 1 does not override any other law, ordinance, bylaw or regulation.
• A water use licence is needed where the use is not covered by Schedule 1, an existing lawful use or a general authorisation (section 22).
• Using water otherwise than as the Act permits is an offence (section 151).

General Authorisation for taking and storing water (GN 538 of 2016)

Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS)

Published in Government Gazette 40243 on 2 September 2016. It lets people take groundwater without a licence within set limits. It runs for twenty years from the date it takes effect, or until withdrawn. As far as we could find, it is still the current general authorisation for groundwater.

• You may take groundwater on a property you have lawful access to, up to a volume worked out from the size of the property and a rate that depends on the drainage region (in some regions the rate is zero), and never more than 40,000 cubic metres a year on one property.
• If you take more than 10 cubic metres (10,000 litres) a day on average over a year under this authorisation, you must register the use with the responsible authority. The use may only be exercised once it is registered.
• If you take groundwater at more than 2 litres per second, you must measure and record the volume monthly and keep the records for at least five years.
• It does not cover groundwater taken within 500 m of the boundary of a wetland or estuary, 100 m of the delineated riparian edge of a watercourse or state dam, 500 m of a state dam wall, or 500 m of the ocean high-water mark. Water taken there needs a licence.
• DWS can withdraw the authorisation for specified areas or water resources. It does not exempt anyone from any other legal requirement.

Water Services Act (Act 108 of 1997) and municipal by-laws

Municipalities

Municipalities make by-laws on water services. Where a by-law covers boreholes, it applies even to a Schedule 1 use.

• Municipal rules can include consent or notice before drilling, registration of the borehole, a meter and regular meter readings.
• Where borehole water ends up in the municipal sewer, some municipalities require a meter and may charge for the discharge. Cape Town's by-law requires such a meter. We did not check any tariff.
• DWS said in July 2026 that municipal borehole requirements in local by-laws remain separate from National Water Act registration.
• Rules differ between municipalities and change over time. Confirm with yours.

SANS 10299 (development, maintenance and management of groundwater resources)

South African Bureau of Standards (SABS)

A series of SABS standards. We found no source saying whether the series is legally mandatory, so treat it as the industry standard, not as the law. The standards are paywalled and we have not read their text, so we do not describe their detailed requirements.

• Part 1: the location and siting of water boreholes.
• Part 2: the design, construction and drilling of boreholes (2003 edition, reaffirmed in 2009 and listed by SABS as current).
• Part 4: test-pumping of water boreholes. This is the method behind yield tests.
• Parts 5 and 6: the design, selection and performance of pumping equipment for production boreholes (5), and its installation and commissioning (6).
• Part 7: the rehabilitation of water boreholes. Part 8: the management of water boreholes. Part 9: the decommissioning of water boreholes.

Households within Schedule 1

In July 2026, as reported by Rekord and Engineering News, DWS confirmed that households using borehole water for reasonable domestic purposes are exempt from registration under Schedule 1, and that there is no prescribed volume threshold for domestic groundwater use. Rekord reports that DWS confirmed in writing to the organisation Outa that domestic users within Schedule 1 cannot be penalised or prosecuted for failing to register. DWS also said municipal borehole requirements in local by-laws remain separate from the National Water Act registration process.

The 2026 registration notice (commercial and high-volume users)

A notice published on 24 April 2026 called on unregistered water users to register. According to a law firm summary, registration was open from 24 April 2026 to 23 July 2026, a fee of R300 per property applies to registration after 23 July 2026, and failing to comply is a criminal offence under the National Water Act. It covers unregistered takings of water, including boreholes used for commercial purposes. Engineering News reports that commercial, agricultural, industrial and other high-volume groundwater users remain legally required to register with the relevant Catchment Management Agency. We have not read the notice itself and news reports give it different numbers, so read it in the Government Gazette or ask your DWS regional office.

National Groundwater Archive (NGA)

DWS keeps the National Groundwater Archive of borehole records, and drillers are encouraged to submit their data. We found no source showing a current legal duty on owners to register a borehole with the NGA. Ask your driller whether they submit the data, and keep your own copy of the completion report.

Draft drilling regulations (not yet law)

In February 2026 a news report described draft national borehole drilling regulations. As reported, they would require existing borehole owners and people who want to drill to register, geosite identifiers from the NGA before drilling, drilling data to go to the NGA within two months of finishing, yield test results before abstraction, and no drilling within 50 m of cemeteries and informal waste disposal sites. We found no Gazette reference and cannot confirm their status, so treat this as something to watch, not as current law.

Gauteng

• Written consent from the City is required before you drill. Applications go to the Environment and Infrastructure Services Department (EISD) under a new process that started on 1 October 2025.
• The City says applications are finalised within 14 working days. Its process flow shows that period starting after you pay the invoice the City issues once your documents have been checked.
• Documents include a certified copy of your ID, three recent municipal account statements, title deeds, a site plan and a geophysical survey report.
• Approved applicants receive a drilling certificate, which must be kept on site and shown to inspectors or JMPD officers during drilling.
• Domestic applicants send quarterly borehole meter readings to the City by email (its flow says by the fifth day of January, April, July and October).
• Contact: [email protected] or 011 082 7970.
• For commercial applications the City's own flow starts with a water use licence application to DWS for commercial use of 10 cubic metres a day or more. Ask DWS which route applies to you.
• Johannesburg has also been reported to refuse boreholes in areas its Land Use Scheme lists as dolomitic. We could not find that on the City's own pages.

Gauteng

• The City says permission is mandatory before any drilling can commence, and that drilling without proper authorisation can lead to legal repercussions.
• Applications go to the City Planning Department's Dolomite Section for review and comments on potential impacts on local geology and hydrology.
• You request the application form by email from the officials the City names on its borehole page. The documents needed are listed in the form itself.

Gauteng

• Reported to require owners to notify the City before drilling a new borehole where required. The City can reportedly ask for an environmental impact assessment where environmental risks exist.
• Municipal approval may be required where borehole water will be used for drinking.
• We have not read Tshwane's water by-law. Contact the City's water and sanitation department before you drill.

Western Cape

• The Water By-law says nobody may sink a well, wellpoint or borehole unless the City has been given at least 14 days' written notice.
• The by-law's conditions for boreholes include that the borehole is registered on the City's database and that a sign provided by the City is displayed prominently on the property.
• Where borehole water is discharged into the sewer, the owner must install a meter to the City's specification in the pipe leading from the borehole. The text we read does not require a meter on every borehole, so confirm the current rule with the City.
• The by-law also says authorisation to use water from boreholes must be sought from DWS in terms of section 39 of the National Water Act. Ask the City how that applies to household use.
• These rules apply inside the City of Cape Town only. We read the by-law as consolidated to 20 July 2018 and have not checked later amendments or the current restriction level.

KwaZulu-Natal

• eThekwini may have its own borehole requirements. We could not confirm them, so ask the municipality before drilling.
• The national General Authorisation does not cover groundwater taken within 500 m of the ocean high-water mark, which can matter for coastal plots.

Limpopo

• National Water Act rules apply: reasonable domestic use is Schedule 1, and other uses fall under the General Authorisation or a licence.
• We have not confirmed any Polokwane by-law. Ask your DWS regional office and the municipality, especially about commercial use.

North West

• We have not confirmed any Rustenburg Local Municipality borehole by-law. Ask the municipality.
• If your property is near mining activity, ask a hydrogeologist about groundwater quality. A DWS hydrogeological brochure notes that a groundwater control area east of Rustenburg (Kroonstad and Marikana) was proclaimed after landowners raised concerns about groundwater loss from mine dewatering.

Free State

• We could not confirm Mangaung's borehole rules. Ask the municipality.
• Farm users should ask their DWS regional office whether a catchment management agency or water user association covers the area.

Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and elsewhere

• We have not confirmed borehole rules for other municipalities. Ask yours before you drill, and ask your DWS regional office about anything beyond household use.