In Bekkersdal and Merafong, residents cry for water justice 

The communities of Bekkersdal and Merafong are living with the legacy of a failed municipal system on water delivery, particularly when it comes to access to safe water – a basic human right guaranteed by the South African constitution.

What many still treat as a local crisis in the Rand West Local Municipality is, in truth, a national one.

For residents of Bekkersdal and Merafong, the unfolding water crisis is their “day-zero” déjà vu, relived in a matrix of perpetuity.

It is driven by a familiar set of failures: mine closures in the West Rand Basin that risk turning the area into ghost towns, unfulfilled social and labour plans, long delayed and contested urban renewal projects initially costed at around R1.2 billion, and chronic failure of municipal services.

Communities in the area have been locked in a multi-year struggle for survival; their fight for access to water only compounds daily hardship.

They are crying out for dignity, something no human being should ever have to do.

Civil society organisations in Bekkersdal have conducted their own water quality tests using our WaterCAN Citizen Science Test Kits.

They do this to document the ever-deteriorating state of water quality and supply – and they continue to demand that the municipality takes immediate and meaningful action.

Media reports and pressure campaigns have shown the realities of daily life here, highlighting how the water crisis hits schools, households and the elderly.

Residents battle to meet the most basic hygienic and domestic needs in Bekkersdal and surrounding areas, including Merafong.

In a best-case scenario, these communities receive potable water through their taps for around 11 hours a day.

But that is being overly optimistic and assumes water supply is evenly spread out across time and location. In most cases, this is not true.

Some areas go without water for weeks; others get none at all. Many residents must trek to another village or neighbourhood to access water tanks

“People have to travel from 1.5 to 2 kilometres just to queue and get water,” Tshediso Monare, a community activist from Bekkersdal, told WaterCAN.

When the Rand West Municipality is confronted with these facts, authorities are quick to make commitments, but there is very little outcome, if any at all. Asking for a timeline of when the crisis will be over is futile in this environment.

The protests that follow are part of the South African story. They are rooted in the same frustrations that drive community uprisings across the country: unfulfilled commitments and broken promises.

What are the communities of Bekkersdal and Merafong demanding? They want the Mayor of the Rand West Local Municipality, the MMC of Infrastructure and his team to provide the communities they serve with regular and honest updates. They want the issues clearly articulated and realistic plans to resolve the water crisis made public – with clear deadlines for implementation.

The residents aren’t struggling alone. Civil society organisations such as Defend our Democracy, the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation and WaterCAN have, and will, continue to support them.

Their story may not be unique in a country awash with crises. But it matters that they know their struggle is shared by others; that they are not a forgotten community on the edge of a fading mining belt. They have purpose. They matter. And their fight for water justice must be amplified.