DELPORT, GAUTENG — The Delport water crisis in the City of Ekurhuleni continues to escalate, defying recent interventions by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC). Despite the commission’s explicit warnings against the costly and potentially corrupt use of private water tankers, thousands of residents in this informal settlement remain without reliable tap water, forcing them to depend on outsourced delivery systems that have already drained over R116 million from public funds.
During a May probe into the broader Gauteng water crisis, the SAHRC condemned the ongoing service failures as a profound violation of human rights. While municipal representatives pledged to address the shortages, the commission heavily criticized the widespread reliance on private water tankers. Officials highlighted the financial contradiction of spending millions on external service providers while simultaneously claiming a lack of funds for permanent infrastructure, labeling the practice a potential avenue for corruption. The SAHRC formally recommended that municipalities transition to in-house water tanker fleets to resolve the issue.
In Delport, an informal settlement established in 2003 with a population exceeding 4,000, this recommendation has been ignored. Residents report queuing daily not at municipal taps, but at privately owned, outsourced water tankers. Although the broader municipality has utilized tankers for years, this specific service only reached Delport in 2024. Even then, the supply is severely inadequate; after an allocation of five buckets per person, the flow reduces to a mere drip, which locals describe as the tap “crying.”
The community’s infrastructure struggles are long-standing. For 15 years, the settlement had no taps at all. A handful were finally installed in 2018, but they consistently run dry. Furthermore, a promise made by councilors three years ago to install water taps on every street has yet to materialize.
The daily burden falls heavily on the community’s youth and vulnerable populations. A 21-year-old resident, has turned water fetching into a survival job. Braving the scorching heat, he loads buckets onto a trolley and delivers them to elderly residents and working community members who return home exhausted, charging a nominal fee of 10 rand per load.
“For those of us who still haven’t found employment, this is how we make a living,” he noted, emphasizing that seeing small children dragging heavy buckets underscores the severity of the scarcity. He added that the tanker’s distant location makes the journey arduous, with trolleys frequently getting stuck and buckets spilling, forcing residents to start the journey over.
For those living on the outskirts of the settlement, the situation is even more hazardous. Residents revealed that a broken municipal water pipe was left unrepaired for three weeks, leaving them with no choice but to collect drinking water from a nearby lake. Given Delport’s location in a mining area, residents are acutely aware that this water source is contaminated. It took three separate visits by a resident to the municipal offices before a tap was finally installed on the broken pipe.
The lack of running water has also created a secondary sanitation crisis. Unable to wash clothes at home, many community members are forced to do their laundry beneath a bridge situated directly above sewer pipes. When the sewage flows, it runs straight under the bridge, while residents attempt to wash using water drawn from a nearby gated dam.
Addressing the R116 million spent on private tankers over the past five years, an Ekurhuleni spokesperson acknowledged the SAHRC’s concerns. Dlamini noted the commission’s warnings regarding a “water tanker mafia” and the inherent corruption risks of the costly exercise. However, he defended the current measures as a necessary stopgap.
“We do have a constitutional imperative to provide clean drinking water to communities,” Dlamini stated. He added that the city has committed to purchasing its own water tankers in the new financial year to reduce reliance on contracted services, though he admitted this transition is an ongoing process.
The SAHRC remains firm that the municipality can and should abandon the private tanker system entirely, pointing to a lack of transparency in how these service providers are appointed and a strong indication of improper relationships with municipal managers.
Compounding the pressure, reliable sources confirm that the Office of the Public Protector has initiated an investigation into the use of private water tankers across municipalities, with a specific focus on the City of Ekurhuleni and the Delport area east of Johannesburg.
As investigations unfold, residents like the 21-year-old resident continue to wait for a permanent resolution. “I earn a living through this, but it is painful. I’m too young to be doing this,” he reflected, holding onto the hope that formal employment will eventually free him—and his community—from the daily struggle for basic water access.