The South African municipality hit with a 12-year water outage

Parts of Lekwa Municipality have been without water for over a decade, leading the Democratic Alliance (DA) to open a complaint with the Human Rights Commission.

Lekwa Local Municipality is located in Mpumalanga province and is one of seven municipalities in the Gert Sibande District.

The municipality has been grappling with a prolonged water crisis, with some communities enduring over 12 years without consistent access to clean water.

According to the DA, the affected areas include Ward 5—comprising Palama, Extension 2, KaMqhewane, and Mapheshini sections—Extension 8 in Ward 9 and Rooikoppen in Ward 11.

These regions have infrastructure such as pipes and taps, but the water supply has been interrupted for more than a decade, severely impacting daily life and local healthcare facilities.

In its most recent annual report, the municipality acknowledged its water problems and blamed the crisis on a lack of funds, infrastructure maintenance, skills, and slow progress in planned refurbishments.

The municipality noted that the shortfall in water provision is attributed to years of neglect and inadequate maintenance of water infrastructure dating back to the 1970s.

Additionally, the municipality estimated that approximately R1.5 billion is required for a comprehensive overhaul of the water infrastructure.

“A major challenge remains the inconsistent water supply to some areas due to the water treatment plant infrastructure not working optimally,” the municipality said.

“Its design capacity no longer meets demand and ageing infrastructure, resulting in pipe bursts and water supply interruptions.”

The municipality added that it has been unable to cope with the demand for basic services such as water.

“Over several years, inadequate infrastructure maintenance has compounded the situation, gradually deteriorating it and subjecting communities to inconsistent water.”

It also warned that the failing infrastructure may potentially expose communities to health and safety hazards.

To address the challenges, the municipality has initiated several measures, including infrastructure refurbishment and water quality monitoring, to address the crisis.

At the end of 2023, it said a refurbishment project for the Standerton water treatment plant is being implemented in collaboration with the Department of Water and Sanitation and the Gert Sibande District Municipality.

The municipality has also been instructed to conduct weekly water quality tests to ensure that residents receive clean water.

Despite these efforts, the municipality’s residents still face glaring problems. They have reported that the quality of the water they do receive is questionable.

Residents have reported brown water filling their sinks even if water runs from the taps. “It looks like water straight from the river,” a resident told the Citizen.

According to Lubabalo Majenge, the communications officer for the Lekwa Local Municipality, the water is still safe for use but must be boiled first.

Majenge added that refurbishing the Standerton water treatment plant might solve the water issues. However, Majenge did not indicate when the refurbishments will happen.

However, the DA has said that progress has been too slow, and the water crisis persists, which is unacceptable. The DA has called for urgent assessments and interventions.

“This crisis has left a community denied their basic human right to water, and residents now wait by the side of the road for water tankers,” said the DA in a statement on 20 March 2025.

“Irregular water tanker schedules provided by the municipality have left residents stranded for hours over a 12-year period.”

The party added that, along with the complaint submitted to the Human Rights Commission, it had raised this matter in Parliament and demanded action from Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation David Mahlobo.

However, the party said that, to date, he has been silent on feedback.

“The DA expects the SAHRC to handle this matter thoroughly because the municipality has been violating the community’s right to water for 12 years,” it said.

BusinessTech contacted Lekwa Local Municipality for an update regarding its water challenges and the DA’s complaint to the SAHRC but did not receive a response by the time of publication.