Bronkhorstspruit water crisis exposes a national pattern of municipal failure and impunity

The current water crisis that has led to about 450 people in Bronkhorstspruit falling ill from drinking tap water is a microcosm of all of the problems in local government. 

It shows how a culture of non-accountability has taken hold in many places, and how officials are able to evade responsibility. Even when their actions lead to serious health consequences for ordinary people, or in this case, babies.

By the time the national government announced on Monday, 19 October, that there was a problem with the Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Works more than four hundred people had already fallen ill. Many of them were young children, often under the age of four.

Thankfully, at this point, no one is known to have long-lasting consequences from the gastrointestinal illness that this water is carrying.

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Already, by Monday afternoon, the national government had pinpointed the problem. From 24 September until 14 October, the water flowing through the facility had not had chlorine added to it.

The water facility abstracts water from the Bronkhorstspruit river; it is currently polluted with sewage that is pumped into the water by the Victor Khanye Municipality. Because, like in so many other places, its wastewater plants are also not working.

Key ingredient not added to water

This meant that while the water was treated, the key ingredient, which is readily available to ensure it is safe to drink, was not added to the water. 

Officials say there was some kind of problem with the supplier, and as a result the people running the plant did not have enough to add to the system.

Crucially, as national ministers confirmed on Monday, the residents who received this water were not told of the problem. This meant they went on as before, giving water infected with E. coli to their babies and young children.

The mayor of Tshwane, ActionSA’s Nasiphi Moya, has repeatedly promised action over this. She says individuals will be held accountable. 

As the SABC reported, she said: “There are officials who are entrusted to manage the plants, and the fact that we, as leadership, were not informed on time that there is a problem with chlorine, even though they thought they were handling it, is something that is already under way through the COO because the officials are in the Water and Sanitation Department.”

While this is an important promise, there is no reason to believe it will be fulfilled. The City of Tshwane, which Moya has led since October 2024, is not famous for holding officials accountable.

The current deputy mayor, the ANC’s Eugene Modise, was found to have benefitted from a security contract with the City in that he allowed a security company he had previously owned to use his land, from which they provided services to the City. 

After much political wrangling the council eventually decided, despite opposition from parties outside the current ActionSA/ANC/EFF coalition, to dock Modise’s salary for a period. 

It is still not clear if that has actually happened. 

Meanwhile, five officials found by the Special Investigating Unit to have helped Edwin Sodi’s Blackhead Consulting in the infamous Rooiwal tender back in 2019 have still not had their disciplinary processes finalised. Amazingly, the first process found they should have their salaries docked for just one month.

Meanwhile, in Makhanda, Rhodes University has said that members of its community are suddenly also falling ill, with symptoms very similar to those suffered in Bronkhorstspruit.

Sewage in the streets

People there have complained about water supplies for many years, with some reporting that sewage has also flowed into their streets.

In Mogale City, the government has paid out more than R300-million to fix sewage problems. However, as News 24 has consistently reported, that didn’t stop the council from pumping sewage into rivers and, on a regular basis, streets.

Weary readers of Daily Maverick’s coverage of the local elections will not need reminding of how deep this crisis of non-accountability in local government actually goes.

But it is worth examining how and why officials at the Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Works did not act when they realised there was going to be a shortage of chlorine.

While there is, as yet, no publicly available findings from an investigation, it is likely officials realised it would not be in their personal self-interest to report the problem.

As Corruption Watch has pointed out consistently, one of the biggest reasons our water problems escalate to the level they do is because of what happens when people do blow the whistle. 

It has been known for about 10 years that many water facilities, including pumps and other equipment, are frequently deliberately sabotaged to try to help the “water tanker mafia”.

As these elements appear to be linked to several political parties, so there is no incentive to warn of impending problems. 

Those officials who knowingly allowed unchlorinated water to flow into the mouths of babies must have known there was a problem. But they must also have known there would be worse consequences for them to raise the issue than to ignore it.

As much as Moya says she and her top officials should have been told about the shortage of chlorine, how would they have received the news? 

Would the person senior to those managing the water works have immediately tried to help solve the problem? Or told the mayor to go public and warn people?

Or would they have done what the people below them did, and just hoped that the problem would eventually go away? Or perhaps just blamed the people running the facility?

Such is our political situation now that it seems, absent an independent investigation by an agency such as the SIU, that very little accountability will follow this incident.

The politics of coalitions, so often held together through patronage and tenders, does not lend itself to enabling investigations that will find certain individuals responsible for their actions.

A new coalition in Tshwane?

Considering there are now just 13 days until the local elections it might be rational to believe this incident will lead to a new coalition in Tshwane. And that the same could happen in other places where there is a complete lack of accountability.

But the latest polls deliver a very mixed picture. And it is entirely possible that the current coalitions in places like Tshwane, Joburg and Ekurhuleni are simply replicated after all the post-election deals are done.

Also, the fact more and more people are not voting means it becomes easier for these parties to become entrenched in power. All they need to do is ensure their voters get to the polls. 

At the moment, there is no reason to believe this crisis will ease soon. Or that greater accountability will be brought into the system.

Just as Rand Water is warning that councils are using too much water, and that another “water crisis is looming”. DM