Amid a severe and ongoing water crisis, residents of Hammanskraal are enduring blistering heat with unreliable supply, while patients at the local Jubilee District Hospital have been compelled to purchase their own drinking water. Authorities acknowledge the crisis and say interventions are underway, but community frustration is reaching a boiling point.
Temperatures in the area soared to 33 degrees Celsius recently, exacerbating the dire situation. While the City of Tshwane and the Department of Water and Sanitation report progress on the multi-phase Hammanskraal Intervention Water Project, on-the-ground realities tell a different story.
According to officials, Phase 2 of the project has been largely completed, restoring tap supply to some areas. However, the system is under severe strain due to pent-up demand from residents who have gone without reliable water for months or years. Many in these so-called “Phase 2 areas” still rely on backup Jojo tanks, anticipating frequent disruptions.
The situation is markedly worse in other parts of Hammanskraal. Jeffrey Ntlhakana, a regional member of the South African National Civic Organization (SANCO) in the area, detailed the critical shortages. He stated that only three municipal water trucks are currently servicing large portions of the community operating on a reduced schedule of Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.
“We are appealing to the municipality to assist us,” Ntlhakana said. “We are preferring to use only three trucks… it doesn’t supply the whole area.” He appealed for at least five to six trucks to enable daily water delivery.
Beyond scarcity, a deep-seated distrust of the water supply persists, rooted in a deadly cholera outbreak years ago and a typhoid fever scare late last year. Ntlhakana confirmed that even in Phase 2 areas where tap water is available, many residents refuse to drink it.
“Some of the residents are still not happy because they’ve lost their families,” he said. “They say… ‘we can still use this water for washing,’” choosing instead to buy drinking water from private vendors.
The crisis has extended to public institutions. Ntlhakana reported that a clinic has contacted him for intervention, as the municipal service provider has stopped supplying them with water. He has had to personally call truck drivers to deliver water to the facility.
With local government elections on the horizon, the water issue has become intensely political. Ntlhakana warned that the failure to resolve the crisis could have electoral consequences.
“We are on local government elections… we will make sure we sit down with the Municipality of Tshwane so that they must wrap up this issue, otherwise we are going to lose voters,” he stated. He called on the current Mayor of Tshwane, Cilliers Brink, to address the community’s plight, noting that promises made by the previous mayor, Randall Williams, had not been fulfilled.
Residents express a longing for a permanent solution that moves the entire community beyond dependence on tanks and trucks. “We want to move forward so that we must not prefer to use a water tank or a Jojo,” Ntlhakana emphasized.
As the scorching summer continues, the sentiment in Hammanskraal is clear: access to clean, reliable water remains the paramount issue, one that will heavily influence daily survival and political decisions in the months to come.