- Budget provides no credible plan to fix the growing water and sanitation crisis.
- SAHRC confirmed Mopani violated the right of access to sufficient water.
- Budget prioritises operational survival over infrastructure recovery.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mopani District refused to support the adoption of the 2026/27 budget at a special council meeting held on 29 May 2026 because it underfunds infrastructure renewal and offers no credible plan to restore reliable water and sanitation services in the face of a growing district-wide crisis.
Communities across the Mopani District are suffering, their basic rights are being trampled on, and their dignity is being impaired. Businesses battle to trade, and government services, including clinics and hospitals, struggle to stay open or are forced to close.
The common denominator in the collapse of water and sanitation infrastructure and service delivery across Ba-Phalaborwa, Greater Giyani, Greater Letaba, Greater Tzaneen and Maruleng is the ANC-led Mopani District Municipality, which carries ultimate responsibility for water and sanitation services as the district’s Water Services Authority.
In 2023, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) found that ageing and failing infrastructure were the core factors underlying the water and sanitation crisis across Mopani; that Mopani stood in violation of Section 27 of the Constitution; and that it was not complying with its obligations under the Water Services Act — all of which the district municipality acknowledged.
According to the Mayor’s own budget speech, R2.052 billion (77%) of the municipality’s R2.651 billion budget is allocated to operating expenditure, while only R523.6 million is allocated to capital expenditure and R84 million is set aside for servicing historic Lepelle Northern Water (LNW) and Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) debt.
While operational expenditure continues to grow, the budget still fails to provide the scale of infrastructure rehabilitation and renewal required to restore reliable water and sanitation services across the district.
The DA believes this budget is both morally and constitutionally indefensible. A municipality already found to be violating communities’ right of access to sufficient water cannot respond by underfunding infrastructure renewal while increasing operational spending.
This is not a turnaround budget — it continues the pattern of administrative survival and insufficient infrastructure renewal.
Mopani’s own IDP confirms a full-system failure, admitting that many schemes require significant renovation and upgrading, while reticulation failures leave communities below basic service levels. The crisis is worsened by illegal connections, poor metering, weak billing, poor revenue collection and water losses. This makes the water-services function financially unsustainable and further undermines Mopani’s ability to maintain, repair and renew critical infrastructure.
This is reinforced by national Drop findings, which show that Mopani has failed to submit required Blue Drop and No Drop corrective action plans.
The communities of Mopani deserve responsible local government that delivers reliable services. We urge residents to make use of the voter registration weekend scheduled for 20–21 June 2026 to ensure that they are registered to vote in the November municipal election. Residents must be registered to vote for change.