Today, the DA in Limpopo reported Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) officials to the Public Protector to investigate their failure to provide water to Newtown, residents of Ward 8 and surrounding areas in Makhado.
VDM in their legislated capacity as Water Service Authority (WSA) as well as Water Service Provider (WSP) to the Makhado Local Municipality has left some residents without water for more than 7 months with no communication as to when water will be restored.
During an initial oversight in February 2025 to the Mowkop reservoir, which provides water to Newtown and surrounding areas, we were appalled to witness how the reservoir was emptied by merely opening a valve which released millions of litres of water into the veld and streets. No mitigating efforts were made to save this water for the residents, who at the time had been without water for 6 weeks.
Desperate residents were harvesting water running down the streets in buckets to use in their homes.
Section 27 of The Constitution mandates access to water and the Water Services Act, 108 of 1997, stipulates that a consumer may not be without water for more than 7 full days per year.
VDM does not care about residents’ rights and has a flagrant disregard for our Constitution and the implementing legislation which ensures water provision.
Despite the South African Human Rights Commission’s recommendations in 2023 to VDM following and investigation in 2021, the water crisis has worsened as the Mowkop reservoir is permanently empty.
We laid criminal charges against Vhembe officials in February 2025, but to date did not even receive a case number; it is clear that no investigation was conducted by SAPS.
The DA will no longer tolerate VDM’s disregard to execute their mandate to provide water; we urge the Public Protector to expedite their investigation and to hold officials accountable.