MAKWASSIE, North West — Makwassie water tankers, initially deployed as a short-term emergency response in 2022, have now become the sole lifeline for households across the Maquassi Hills Local Municipality — even though the majority of those homes were built with working yard taps. Four years into the crisis, residents of Lebaleng and surrounding areas say the municipality has effectively replaced a once-reliable piped network with an erratic tanker schedule, leaving the most vulnerable without consistent access to water for drinking, medication, and sanitation.
A Temporary Fix That Never Ended
Municipal spokespeople maintain that the tanker programme was conceived strictly as a stopgap measure while longer-term infrastructure upgrades were planned. They cite rapid population growth and deteriorating, ageing infrastructure as the twin pressures that overwhelmed the existing water provision system.
To address the root cause, the municipality says it has launched a multi-year borehole replacement programme financed entirely through internal funds. Officials confirm that almost five boreholes have been reinstated in Wolmaransstad, while nearly three have been completed in Maquassi, the site closest to Lebaleng. Despite this progress, no definitive timeline has been given for when household taps will flow again.
The Human Cost: Chronic Illness, Ageing Bodies and School-Age Children
The daily reality behind the statistics is stark. Tabo, a Lebaleng resident, lives with his 55-year-old mother. When he is physically unable to collect water, she shoulders the task herself — a routine she describes as exhausting and unsustainable. The pair ration every litre they receive, stretching the limited tanker supply across an entire week of cooking, cleaning, and personal hygiene.
Tabo says his greatest concern extends beyond his own household. He wants reliable water restored so that children in the community can attend school clean and dignified, free from the humiliation of arriving unwashed because there was nothing in the taps that morning.
For elderly residents, the stakes are medical. A Sixty-four-year-old and a 62-year-old both depend on chronic medication that requires adequate water to take safely. Without a dependable supply, managing their conditions becomes a daily gamble. Neither can carry heavy containers, so they rely on neighbours to fetch water on their behalf — a service they pay for out of their monthly old-age grants.
SAHRC Findings: Tanks Sit Empty, Toilets Are Missing
The South African Human Rights Commission has independently investigated conditions in the area and painted a troubling picture. While the commission acknowledges that water storage tanks have been installed, it found that those tanks are not consistently refilled. The refill schedule is tied to the operation of a solar-powered generator; when the generator malfunctions, the tanks simply stay empty.
As a result, residents frequently walk to neighbouring communities to collect water. The commission further documented a severe sanitation deficit, with multiple households lacking any form of toilet and resorting to bucket systems instead.
In its formal recommendation, the SAHRC directed the Maquassi Hills Local Municipality to submit a detailed intervention plan — complete with a full cost breakdown and clear timelines — to resolve the water access challenges in Wolmaransstad, including Maquassi, across the short, medium, and long term, and to guarantee basic water supply to every affected community.
A National Pattern, Not an Isolated Incident
The dependency on water tankers is not unique to the North West. A recent tragedy in KwaZulu-Natal thrust the dangers and indignities of tanker-reliant communities into the national conversation, prompting renewed scrutiny of how South Africa’s municipalities manage water infrastructure.
For the people of Lebaleng, however, the philosophical debate has long since ended. The question they pose to the Maquassi Hills Local Municipality is no longer whether the next tanker will arrive. It is whether an emergency measure introduced four years ago has silently been elevated into permanent policy — and whether their yard taps will ever run again.
