ActionSA notes a series of public statements issued by EFF MMC for Health, Cllr Tshegofatso Mashabela and EFF Mayoral Candidate following our statement of 20 October, concerning the executive and legislative responsibilities of government in handling the Bronkhorstspruit water crisis.
Instead of being visible and on the ground with ActionSA Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya and Region 7 Political Head MMC Flora Monama in assessing the on-going water crisis in Bronkhorstspruit, supporting public-health education in affected communities and monitoring water sampling and quality testing, MMC Mashabela can be found on social media, lambasting anyone who questions her absence since reports of patients with gastrointestinal illness emerged a few days ago.
MMC Mashabela attributes responsibility of the operation of the Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Works to the Regional Operations and Coordination (ROC) Department, which contradicts the City’s own departmental Business Plans.
ROC procures chlorine for municipal swimming pools, but the procurement of chlorine for swimming pools is entirely different from procurement of treatment chemicals for a drinking-water treatment plant.
Responsibility for water-treatment infrastructure falls within the mandate of the Water and Sanitation Business Unit (WASABU), under the political oversight of the ANC MMC for Utilities. ROC and WASABU are two separate municipal functions.
Whie Executive Mayor is the political head of ROC, and MMC Monama provides political oversight to Region 7 ROC teams, the operation of the Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Works falls to the MMC for Utilities. These are basic distinctions in the City’s organisational arrangements, which an MMC should be familiar with.
More concerning, however, is the discrepancy between MMC Mashabela’s description of her own Health Department’s responsibilities and the mandate recorded in its Business Plan.
She has repeatedly argued that Health’s role is to detect outbreaks, investigate illnesses and warn residents. While these are important functions, they are not the entirety of the department’s mandate.
The 2026–2031 Health Business Plan, signed by MMC Mashabela herself, expressly assigns the department responsibility for monitoring potable water quality, conducting water sampling and analysis, and undertaking surveillance for the early detection and prevention of waterborne diseases.
It is common cause that the City should have managed the situation better and done more to raise public awareness. While Executive Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya has accepted overall political responsibility and taken a leading role in responding to the Bronkhorstspruit water crisis, MMC Mashabela has yet to publicly explain how she has exercised political oversight of her own portfolio’s responsibilities these past few days.
Group Head of Health has accompanied the Executive Mayor on the ground to assess the situation and support public-health education in affected communities. MMC Mashabela is nowhere to be found.
The people of Bronkhorstspruit deserve political leadership that understands its mandate, answers legitimate questions and puts residents ahead of political disputes. The shocking absence of both EFF MMCs in addressing the on-going health and environmental crisis in Bronkhorstspruit is telling.
Residents are looking for leaders who show up, take responsibility and lead. Let ActionSA lead five more years.
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