Tensions flare as MMC gives watered-down answers
Residents of Ext 10 had had enough of excuses and explanations. They want water in their taps.
Frustrations reached a breaking point tonight as MMC Thabang Mathebula failed to provide Extension 10 residents with a definitive timeline for the restoration of water service.
Mathebula’s explanations did little to soothe the Ext 10 community that has been without water for 10 consecutive days.
Mathebula attributed the ongoing outage to the refurbishment of the Command D Reservoir. However, residents were quick to dismiss the explanation as a repetitive excuse.
“We don’t care what the problem is; we want a solution, and the solution is simply water in our taps,” the crowd retorted.
The anger in Ward 20 is fuelled by what residents said the MMC lied to them.
“On Tuesday, Mathebula visited the area and promised water by that afternoon. By Thursday, the taps were still empty.”
Pat Modubu, who lives in the area, reported that his attempts to follow up via phone calls and WhatsApp messages yesterday were completely ignored by the MMC.
Read more here: The IDP was presented, but the community is unhappy and considers it a mere carbon copy of previous years’ proposals
Mathebula defended the current situation and said that water rationing is necessary because demand far outstrips the available supply.
When pressed on why emergency measures – such as JoJo tanks have not been deployed to the area, his response was blunt: there is no budget available.
Frustrations reached a breaking point tonight as MMC Thabang Mathebula failed to provide Extension 10 residents with a definitive timeline for when water service will be restored. #water #promises #ext10 #humanright pic.twitter.com/4N85tkV6DS
— WitbankNews (@WitbankN) May 7, 2026
Protesters have warned that they are prepared to escalate their tactics to ensure their grievances are addressed.
“Even if we disrupt the traffic every morning and every afternoon, we will not stop until our voices are heard,” Modubu warned that more road closures may be on the horizon if the taps remain empty.
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