HAMMANSKRAAL, GAUTENG — The Hammanskraal water crisis continues to disrupt daily life in the north of Tshwane, where residents say water tankers and JoJo tanks have become permanent fixtures after years of unreliable municipal supply.
The prolonged shortage has renewed scrutiny of water infrastructure, emergency tanker arrangements and government accountability. Residents have also raised concerns about alleged corruption surrounding emergency water delivery, amid investigations involving the Special Investigating Unit and the establishment of a national water-sector anti-corruption forum.
For communities affected by the shortages, however, the immediate concern remains basic access to water.
A crisis that has lasted for years
Community leader Katlego Mthombeni said Hammanskraal’s water problems did not begin recently. He traced the community’s concerns back to 2008 and said the Department of Water and Sanitation identified the Apies River as a source of the problem in 2011.
He said an expansion of the area’s water treatment works followed in 2018 after a tender was awarded. Despite those efforts, residents continued to experience inadequate water services.
The crisis reached a national level of attention in 2023 following a cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal. Mthombeni said the outbreak prompted intervention from the President and the Minister of Water and Sanitation, with a temporary modular solution proposed.
Years later, he said, residents were still waiting for a dependable long-term answer.
Water infrastructure under pressure
The background to the shortages includes deteriorating water and wastewater infrastructure, pollution sources and concerns about the quality of raw water entering the system supplying Hammanskraal.
The transcript notes that the need to increase the capacity of the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Works had been identified as far back as 2024.
That history is significant because residents say the repeated use of emergency measures has not resolved the underlying infrastructure challenge. Instead, tanker deliveries have increasingly become part of normal life in affected communities.
Residents question the tanker system
Water tankers were introduced as an emergency response, but Mthombeni said residents now depend on them as part of their everyday water supply.
He said tanker contracts had previously involved businesses around Tshwane. Earlier in the year, the mayor announced that the existing reliance on outsourced tankers would be reduced.
However, Mthombeni disputed the suggestion that the arrangement had simply been eliminated. He said the system had instead changed, with the city introducing another tanker arrangement and reportedly purchasing tankers that were, according to his account, actually being leased.
The community leader argued that changing who provides the tanker service does not resolve the fundamental problem of inadequate permanent water infrastructure.
The transcript also refers to an April decision to reduce outsourcing and bring more of the water-tanker operation back into the municipality, with potential savings for the city.
For residents, however, the key question remains whether such changes can restore reliable running water to households.
Households left without consistent running water
Mthombeni described conditions in one Hammanskraal community as particularly severe, saying residents had endured about nine months without running water through their household taps.
The consequences, he said, go beyond having to collect water manually. He linked the absence of continuous water supply to problems with sewer systems, which can be affected when households do not have a regular flow of water.
Residents seeking assistance also face what Mthombeni described as a cycle of referrals between government structures. According to him, residents can be directed to the City of Tshwane, other local structures or the Department of Water and Sanitation, with responsibility repeatedly shifted between institutions.
He questioned how residents could be expected to continue paying rates and taxes while experiencing such severe service-delivery problems.
Constitutional rights raised by community leader
The dispute has also taken on a constitutional dimension.
Mthombeni referred to Section 27 of the Constitution, in connection with the right of access to water, and Section 32, which concerns access to information.
He argued that residents require meaningful information from government about the decisions being made around the water crisis, including sufficient transparency to allow communities to demand accountability.
Galani Zungu death highlights tanker dangers
The Hammanskraal debate is unfolding alongside renewed attention to the death of Galani Zungu, a KwaZulu-Natal resident who was killed by an eThekwini Municipality water tanker.
The death has heightened concerns about the risks associated with communities becoming heavily dependent on tanker deliveries during prolonged water shortages.
Mthombeni described the incident as something that should prompt authorities to examine the circumstances surrounding the death and the broader reliance on emergency tanker services. He argued that the municipality should account for the loss.
Questions remain about the 2023 cholera outbreak
The community leader also called for a serious investigation into the 2023 cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal.
While he referred to the outbreak and the deaths that occurred, he said questions remained about the precise circumstances surrounding the water crisis and whether the water supplied through tankers played any role. His comments were presented as concerns requiring investigation rather than established findings.
The issue remains particularly sensitive because families lost loved ones during the outbreak, and Mthombeni argued that the matter should be approached as a serious public-health and service-delivery concern rather than a political dispute.
Government faces pressure over permanent solution
The situation in Hammanskraal raises a broader question: when does an emergency intervention stop being temporary?
Water tankers may provide essential relief when municipal infrastructure fails, but residents argue that years of dependence indicate that the underlying problem remains unresolved.
The concerns extend beyond Hammanskraal. The continued prominence of tanker deliveries in communities affected by water shortages has prompted questions about the responsibilities of municipalities, water boards and national authorities to restore functioning infrastructure and consistent supplies.
For Hammanskraal residents, the demand is ultimately straightforward: a dependable water supply, functioning infrastructure and greater accountability over decisions affecting a basic public service.
The community’s long-running experience demonstrates how an emergency response can become a fixture of everyday life when permanent infrastructure problems remain unresolved.
