Outrage grows as Tshwane’s water tanker bill hits R777 million, raising corruption fears and pressure on Mayor Nasiphi Moya.
As the rains return to Tshwane so, too, do the questions about power outages, stalled service delivery and a water tanker bill that’s ballooned to R777 million.
At the centre of the storm is mayor Nasiphi Moya, whose silence on the so-called “tanker mafia” has drawn fire from opposition parties and analysts alike.
Gauteng uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party spokesperson Abel Tau said they were infuriated by the discovery that the city has spent over R777 million by the end of the financial year on water tankers.
“This is a huge indictment of mayor Moya and her party, who have styled themselves as corruption busters,” he said.
Outrage grows as Tshwane’s water tanker bill hits R777 million
He said MK party can safely say that service delivery has come to an almost standstill in townships.
“Today, as it rains, most communities from Soshanguve block DD, Lotus Gardens in Atteridgeville, all the way to Nellmapius, are without electricity because necessary preventative maintenance is not prioritised,” he said.
Tau said the MK will be writing to the mayor to demand answers on this “reckless” spending.
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He said the party will also be gearing itself up “for the mother of all protest actions in Tshwane”.
Freedom Front Plus Tshwane caucus leader Grandi Theunissen said the party had raised concern in council – and through the public accounts committee – about the cost of water delivery via tankers.
He said at 10 cents per litre compared to one cent for bulk water, this represents a tenfold inflation that “was fiscally irresponsible and operationally unsustainable”.
“We have already called for urgent accountability from the city’s executive regarding this disproportionate expenditure, which exceeds R530 million per annum,” he said.
ANC-EFF-ActionSA coalition – DA
DA Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink said since the city was taken over by an ANC-EFF-ActionSA coalition, water tanker spending rose by 455% from R140 million to R777 million.
“The emergency supply of water to formalised areas by water tanker trucks is now the single biggest operational expenditure item of the city’s department of water and sanitation. It even surpasses capital spending on pipe replacements,” he said.
Brink said in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, tankers have been deployed permanently for several years due to unpotable water caused by pollution in the Apies River by the Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant.
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“In 2023, the city partnered with Magalies Water and a package plant was built on the Pienaars River to give Hammanskraal residents potable tap water,” he said.
“The launch of the first phase of this project in January should have reduced the city’s water tanker bill.”
Brink said the DA had written to Tshwane municipal manager Johann Mettler to ask for the most comprehensive internal investigation possible.
“Because of the risk of internal interference in such an investigation, we are also reporting the matter to the public protector as a potential form of maladministration,” he said.
Corruption on a mega scale
Political analyst Piet Croucamp said one didn’t have to have an intelligent understanding of anything as far as local government and management were concerned to know that this was corruption on a mega scale.
Croucamp said it was enabled by certain local governments and the mayoral council.
“There’s no doubt this is one of the ways that local government councils are destroyed by poor governance, weak government and the reluctance of authorities,” he said.
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