Moya Must Resign Over Water Crisis

Statement by Ald Cilliers Brink – DA Tshwane Media Liaison:

The DA has filed a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) against the City of Tshwane, Mayor Nasiphi Moya, and the City over the Bronkhorstspruit water crisis. Nasiphi Moya must resign in shame.

The DA cares deeply about clean drinking water for all in Tshwane. We take this matter very seriously, because the people of Tshwane deserve much better.

Our complaint to the SAHRC seeks an urgent investigation into the possible violation of residents’ constitutional rights to human dignity, a healthy environment, and access to sufficient water.

Mayor Moya admitted yesterday to serious “negligence” and said she “takes responsibility” for it – yet she hid the shortages of chlorine to treat the Bronkhorstspruit water from the people of Tshwane for three weeks.

For three weeks, the City supplied water without chlorine and failed to warn residents that it was unsafe. This has now become a public health crisis, with over 400 reported cases of serious illness, most involving children under the age of four.

Moya’s admission of “negligence” is enough grounds for her to vacate her office. An apology is not accountability; she must accept the political consequences.

We warned the ActionSA-ANC coalition repeatedly about the collapse of the Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Plant. They ignored the warnings. They continued to starve infrastructure of maintenance while pouring money into the water tanker mafia.

Our complaint to the SAHRC follows the criminal case we opened yesterday at the Pretoria Central Police Station.

I have now also written to the City Manager to propose an eight-step action plan for Bronkhorstspruit and the surrounding communities:

1. Secure an uninterrupted chlorine supply, with backup suppliers, minimum reserves and daily stock checks.
2. Independently verify the entire treatment process, including dosing equipment, filtration, pumps and monitoring instruments.
3. Address contamination in reservoirs and pipelines, including the Ekandustria and Zithobeni reservoirs, with appropriate cleaning, disinfection, flushing and testing at household taps.
4. Maintain reliable supplies of verified safe water, publish tanker schedules and give residents clear instructions on permitted tap-water uses.
5. Maintain and publish a weekly water-tankering cost tracker, showing suppliers, rates, volumes, verified deliveries, municipal fleet costs and cumulative expenditure. Every invoice must be checked against delivery records.
6. Publish water-quality results and clear conditions for lifting restrictions, with independent verification in consultation with water and health authorities.
7. Stop sewage pollution of the Bronkhorstspruit River, by repairing Tshwane’s failing sewage pump stations and coordinating action on upstream failures with DWS and Victor Khanye Municipality.
8. Investigate the failure and enforce accountability, preserving records and establishing who knew chlorination had stopped, why treatment continued and why residents were not warned. This must include the information supplied to the Mayor’s office and the accuracy of her subsequent public statements.

Last night DA Councillors and activists were in Bronkhorstspruit distributing bottled water to a desperate community. Those who came out to collect expressed fear, and deep unhappiness with this water crisis.

Ultimately, the access to clean and safe drinking water, from an honest government which does not lie, or delay public health warnings, is available at the ballot box on 04 November.

The residents of Tshwane come first and voting against this unacceptable and preventable public health emergency is in the hands of voters.

Instead of a party that is so negligent to hide a water safety crisis, vote for a government that will put clean drinking water in your taps, and I commit that will come from a DA government.