WaterCAN calls for Lesedi mayor and council to be held accountable for water crisis

WaterCAN is deeply disturbed by confirmed reports that two people have died during water-related protests in Lesedi Local Municipality, where residents have been without water following the municipality’s failure to settle its debt to Rand Water.

This is not an isolated crisis. It reflects a deeper pattern unfolding in municipalities across the country, where poor financial management, weak accountability, failing infrastructure and political neglect are leaving communities without reliable access to water.

“This crisis, like so many others, did not start with the protests. It started when the municipality failed to manage its finances and failed to protect residents from the consequences of that failure,” said WaterCAN executive director Dr Ferrial Adam.

WaterCAN believes the municipal mayor must resign, and that serious consideration must be given to dissolving the municipality or placing it under urgent intervention if it is no longer able to meet its basic constitutional obligations.

“We understand that Rand Water must be paid. But the solution being implemented is socially flawed. Rand Water has a social responsibility to make sure the most vulnerable are not impacted and throttling of services, due to non-payment by the municipality, hurts the most vulnerable. The water board, like many across the country are fanning the crisis and not helping resolve it, ” Adam said.

Adam said there is a need for a collaborative approach to tackling municipal non-payment, but that approach must protect the most vulnerable. 

WaterCAN calls for an urgent, transparent intervention involving Lesedi Local Municipality, Rand Water, the Gauteng provincial government, the Department of Water and Sanitation, and National Treasury.

This intervention must include a public payment plan, daily updates to residents, the immediate restoration of water supply, protection for vulnerable households and institutions, transparent oversight of any water tanker contracts, and a clear accountability process for the municipal leadership.

"The Lesedi mayor, council and senior municipal officials must be held accountable for allowing the situation to reach the point where taps run dry, communities erupt in desperation, and lives are lost."

WaterCAN is also concerned that prolonged water outages create space for water tanker dependency, political patronage and profiteering. Emergency water tankers may be necessary in a crisis, but they must never become a substitute for reliable water infrastructure or a business model that benefits from municipal failure.

WaterCAN also calls for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate to urgently and transparently investigate the deaths of the two protesters and establish whether police gunfire was involved.

“Water is not a favour from the government. It is a constitutional right. Communities should not have to burn, march or beg to receive what municipalities are legally and morally required to provide,” said Adam.