White River water a ‘violation of rights’
The residents in White River insist on the City of Mbombela being placed under administration, since they feel the current one has failed to deliver services or to provide clean water.

The White River water issues residents have been exposed to for years now have gone from bad to worse, as their foul-smelling brown tap water is now said to also contain worms.
The water quality in White River has deteriorated from not meeting Blue Drop criteria with 75% in 2014 down to 27% in 2023. For any water consumption in South Africa to achieve Blue Drop status, it needs to obtain an overall score of more than 95%, adhering to water quality compliance as per South African National Standards 241.
During an exclusive interview with Lowvelder, some White River residents insisted that the City of Mbombela (CoM) should be put under administration, because the current administration is unable to provide proper service delivery, especially when it comes to clean water, which is a global human right.

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These residents said they had been battling with the municipality to replace the town’s ageing water pipes, especially the asbestos ones. They also accused the CoM of not having the tools and manpower to address all the continuous pipe bursts. They claimed the CoM employed incompetent staff, and that no one was held accountable for not performing their jobs properly. They said it seems no one at CoM, to whom all this is reported, is prepared to take the necessary action to rectify the deteriorating situation, especially concerning water supply to the area.
Some residents claim they also now have worms crawling out of their dirty tap water, and told Lowvelder they don’t even feel like having a bath or shower.
“Often the water is so brown that when we wash our clothes, it comes out dirtier and has stains that cannot be removed. You can wash again and again, but they just do not come out, so trying to keep clothes clean is impossible. Our kids’ school uniforms need constant replacement as a result, and the school shirts are R250 each or more, so it’s very expensive to replace them that often. Not to mention any white clothes,” they said.

ALSO READ: Angry White River residents up in arms over water problems
They said some people in the area need to pay to buy drinking water or for other household usage, and some cannot afford to do so. One household spends at least R1 000 on dirty water from the CoM and then more than R350 a month for clean water for consumption. “This is not fair. What happens to poor people who cannot buy clean water? Our human rights to clean water has been violated many times!”
The way forward
The residents want the CoM to replace all pipes in the existing water network system in White River. The water infrastructure was inspected by Endecon between 2023 and 2024, and they demand this report to be published publicly. They also want the water reservoirs to be checked regularly. A petition called ‘Oppose White River’s Disgusting Water Quality and Dilapidated Infrastructure’ was recently established.

The CoM responds
The CoM’s spokesperson, Joseph Ngala, said these allegations are unfounded and can only be the result of malicious intent. He said the issue of the worms was investigated with the complainant, and they could not find anything wrong with the water quality.
“The City uses external water laboratory services whose results confirmed our assertion. We are aware there will be pipe bursts from time to time owing to the old infrastructure, and our communities will know that during such times, there will be ingress and turbidity in the water for a little while. The municipality would like to inform communities that the old infrastructure challenges are being addressed. We have made an application to National Treasury for pipe replacement finances and await the approval thereof,” he said.

Meanwhile the CoM’s executive mayor, Sibongile Makushe-Mazibuko, said despite the Blue Drop rating: “Our water is lab-tested in Mbombela and is safe for consumption. I stay in White River and I drink the water myself. Ward meetings are called and attended by councillors who take concerns, if any, to the municipality. That is how the line of communication is done, and the councillors know this,”
The municipal manager, Wiseman Khumalo, promised the councillors in the area that he would request the mayor to set aside a budget to address the water crisis in White River.
According to the South African government’s Centre for Disease Control, drinking contaminated or unclean water can lead to health issues such as diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach pain. Users fall ill if they use contaminated water for cooking, rinse food, preparing drinks, making ice or even just brushing teeth. Contact with contaminated water, such as wading or swimming, can also lead to severe health issues.