In implementing South Africa’s National Water Act (36 of 1998), the Water Allocation Reform (WAR) programme is a proactive intervention to address race and gender imbalances created in the water sector as a result of historical discriminatory legislation in the country. Its conceptualisation and implementation fits firmly within the ambit of integrated water resources management (IWRM); however, its focus is primarily sociopolitical, dealing with the re-distributive aspects of water allocation reform. WAR has a formally legislated political mandate and its scale is national. Although it is primarily socio-political in its focus, a wide range of specialist considerations supports it. For these reasons, the programme is multidisciplinary and complex. Success with its implementation will result in greater socio-political and socio-economic stability for the country, and support the contention that socio-centric elements of IWRM are equally, if not more, important than techno-centric ones in particular instances. The paper describes an IWRM implementation approach with socio-politics at its forefront, one that is purposeful and process-driven as a potential recipe for success. In addition, potential risks and threats are identified and their likely impacts briefly highlighted.