Water shortages in the Northern Cape town of Springbok have worsened, with one home not having had supply for more than 80 days, civil rights group Afriforum said.

"Residents claim the municipality refuses to supply water to Springbok by water cart, while other areas in Nama Khoi [Municipality] are supplied with water," spokesman Cornelius Jansen van Rensburg said in a statement.

He said the shortage had gone on for several months and could become life threatening, since the town was in an arid part of the country.

Jansen van Rensburg attributed the crisis to poor maintenance and planning and accused the municipality of gross mismanagement.

"The installation of pipelines and maintenance of other infrastructure was simply neglected."

The organisation gave the municipality until 4pm on Tuesday to meet its demands to resolve the water shortage.

"If the municipality does not reinstate residents' access to water, AfriForum will assist the community of Springbok in launching a legal action."

The municipality could not be reached for comment.