According to the Red List of South African Plants, the current (2007) conservation status of this species is assessed as Critically Endangered (CR). Kniphofia pauciflora was thought to be extinct in the wild until one small population was rediscovered in 1968 at Clairwood Racecourse in Durban, by South African botanist Himansu Baijnath. 

The species was assessed as Extinct by Hilton-Taylor in 1996 and Extinct in the Wild by Scott Shaw in 1999 but fortunately Baijnath had rescued some plants and propagated them, and the species was reintroduced to the Clairwood Racecourse in 1995. In September 2012, 21 clumps of plants were recorded at Clairwood Racecourse, with an average of six inflorescences per clump. The population was successful in this habitat because of the interest shown by Gold Circle, the former owners of the racecourse, and conservation efforts by Himansu Baijnath since 1968. The racecourse has now been converted into Clairwood Logistics Park. The owners of the park have established a conservation management plan for this species. This includes ensuring that the wetland where the species occurs is not disturbed by future developments, a small nursery has been established for the propagation and reintroduction into the wetland and other sites outside of the park, and a monthly invasive alien plant eradication plan has been developed. These measures will hopefully ensure that the current population of Kniphofia pauciflora is conserved, and that the number of individuals will increase. The conservation status of this species may improve if these measures are successful. However, another concern for the continued survival of this species in the last remaining natural population is the low number of individuals and the lack of seedlings and young plants in the population, which implies that the population may be surviving by vegetative reproduction alone, and that all the plants may be clones of the same individual and thus genetically the same.