Pretoria, Gauteng — The Tshwane water access crisis continues to disproportionately impact vulnerable communities, with residents of the Mushongoville informal settlement facing severe daily hardships amid Rand Water’s planned maintenance shutdowns. While the broader metro prepares for temporary outages, those in this western Pretoria settlement say they are routinely overlooked when emergency water tankers are deployed.
Mushongoville is an established informal settlement where residents, particularly those living on higher ground, frequently face physical hardship due to the difficulty of carrying water over long distances.
Samuel Masilela, a community leader, highlighted the systemic neglect faced by the area. He noted that water tankers rarely reach their side, forcing residents to protest peacefully to get the municipality’s attention.
“We’re not violent. I always fight with the municipality to prioritize these people from the informal settlement, but they don’t do it,” Masilela explained. “They wait for us to fight first, and that’s when they decide to bring one water tanker.”
The planned water interruptions also raise significant concerns for small businesses that rely on a steady water supply to operate. One local business owner, whose operations peak on Fridays, noted that the shutdowns affect them entirely. The business typically requires four to six 20-liter containers of water per day. The owner emphasized the severe impact on sanitation and hygiene, noting that customers urgently need access to toilets and handwashing facilities, making the lack of running water a critical operational hurdle.
These frustrations are shared by other residents who say access to water remains a persistent challenge. Elderly individuals and people living with disabilities are particularly devastated, as they must travel far to fetch water. Residents claim that despite constant promises, water tankers never arrive, instead being diverted to nearby townships. This leaves many wondering where informal settlement residents fit into the city’s service delivery plans.
In response to the allegations, Aaron Maluleka, Tshwane Human Settlements MMC, stated that the municipality needs specific details from the public to take action.
“We need that information. Who’s the driver? Because every Jojo tank is linked to a driver. Therefore, we just want to know who’s not supplying them,” Maluleka said. He cited a similar incident in Centurion where a paid tanker failed to deliver, resulting in the immediate termination of that contractor’s service.
Maluleka urged community members to come forward with details so the city could investigate and replace non-performing service providers. “We terminate our services and get someone from the list. Someone is waiting to get an opportunity. We’re going to give an opportunity to a business person that is willing to work with us,” he added.
The City of Tshwane reportedly spends approximately 300 million rand annually on water tanker services. To address the root of the dependency, the city has announced plans to install permanent water tanks in communities currently reliant on water tanker deliveries.
Meanwhile, residents in affected informal settlements remain hopeful that Rand Water’s current maintenance and future outages will not deepen what they describe as an ongoing, daily struggle to access basic water services.