No end in sight for Madibeng’s nine-year battle for clean running water

The Madibeng Local Municipality in the North West province has denied allegations that it is involved in looting through a water tankering system.

Several areas which fall under the municipality have had serious water challenges for years, with some saying they are still experiencing challenges despite the quality of the water having improved.

The battle for clean water was given national prominence in 2014, when the municipality was brought to a standstill by furious residents who were demanding water. Their ire resulted in violent protests, which ultimately claimed the lives of four people, who were allegedly shot dead by the police.

Lack of adequate water provision

According to Sydney Monnakgotla from an organisation called Save Madibeng, there has since been a notable improvement in the quality of water to the area.

The improvement in the water quality is, however, the only victory, which means little when the supply remains erratic or almost non-existent. This is the case with regard to water provision for residents in areas such as Letlhabile and Mothutlung.

“The current problem is the fact that the water plant cannot meet the daily demands of residents and until such time that the municipality expand the plant, the problem will persist,” said Monnakgotla.

“It doesn’t matter how well serviced the existing plant is, it will not meet the demand of approximately 100 megalitres of water.”

He said one of the issues that led to the water challenges in Madibeng was the mushrooming of informal settlements between 2011 and 2021, which placed more strain on existing water infrastructure.

“Since 2015, there was a new water project implemented and it has been running to date. The water project was projected to last for three years, meaning it would have been completed by 2017 but that has not happened.”

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Claims of graft in water tankering contracts

“In the past, there were some areas that were getting dirty water and it was discovered last year that this was due to deliberate attempts to loot through water tankering services.

“It was also found that the municipality was paying exorbitant monies for the substance that is used to purify the water,” Monnakgotla said.

Some areas, particularly in Letlhabile, experience water supply interruptions between 8:00 and 16:00 daily, while some areas have been without water for multiple weeks, as one resident Linda Itlhabeleng explains.

“Some of us have been without water for the past three weeks and this has really affected our daily lives.

“Water is a basic right for all citizens and to continue suffering for so many years, is really unacceptable,” Itlhabeleng said.

What’s being done to address the water challenges?

Meanwhile, spokesperson for Magalies Water David Magae say while they are not providing any operation and maintenance services to Madibeng within the reticulation network, they are, however, currently busy with the implementation of the Water Treatment Work (WTW) upgrade project which will see the extension of the existing plant by a further 20 megalitres daily to improve the water provision situation in the municipality.

“The anticipated completion date for the upgrade of the WTW is end of June 2023,” Magae added.

‘Bring us evidence of looting’

Responding to the claims of looting, spokesperson for the municipality Tumelo Tshabalala said chemicals were procured through a service provider contracted for three years, after a competitive bidding process in 2020.

He said the contract has since expired and the municipality is in the process of appointing a procurement panel.

“The municipality does provide potable water through water tankers mostly in areas that do not have infrastructure like informal settlements and we do so with tankers owned by the municipality and those privately owned.

“We have recently purchased 10 new water tankers to improve the service,” said Tshabalala.

He called on anyone with information of looting through water tankering to come forward.

With regard to the Madibeng water situation, Tshabalala said the challenges are broad.

“They range from high demands in the Brits Water Treatment Works (WTW) area of supply to water restrictions in the Rand Water and City of Tshwane’s supply,” he said.

As for the concerns of Letlhabile residents, Tshabalala said they have permanent water rationing in parts of Lethlabile and Maboloka due to supply constraints.

“The arrangement has been in place for years and it will get better as the Brits Waste Treatment Works (WTW) upgrade gets to completion.

“In the recent weeks, we have been rationing the pumping from the WTW between Mothotlung and Lethlabile due to a pump failure and the pump is being repaired and will be back on line by April 6,” Tshabalala said.

Tshabalala said the municipality has been formalising water supply in villages and settlements such as Klipgat A,B and C, Kgabalatsane, Hebron as well as Itsoseng where there were illegal connections.

“Water reticulation and household connection projects were implemented in order to change the water supply situation into a cost recovery programme.

“Household connected to the reticulation are metered which will improve on water usage as they are expected to pay for what they have consumed,” Tshabalala added.

Promises instead of water and services

While the water crisis has always been at the top of their agenda, irate residents at the time of the 2014 protests were also demanding that service delivery in general be addressed.

The ferocity of the protests appeared to have paid off, when some senior officials resigned following calls for change in the leadership of the municipality.

The municipality was also placed under administration with the Auditor General painting a grim picture of the municipality which also invested money into the controversial VBS bank.

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