Thembisile Hani residents continue to face prolonged water shortages as their municipality concedes its taps are often dry, blaming shortfalls from contracted bulk water suppliers — most notably the City of Tshwane, which has been supplying 0.35 megalitres (ML) a day instead of the contracted 16.6ML.
Daily demand far exceeds supply
In a court affidavit filed during a high court case brought by the Democratic Alliance, municipal manager Dumisani Mahlangu acknowledged that the volume and reliability of bulk water supply to Thembisile Hani Local Municipality have deteriorated.
The municipality’s 2024/25 annual report put daily water demand at 99ML. It had contracts with bulk suppliers for 51.6ML a day, yet received on average only 41.7ML daily — leaving a shortfall equivalent to 57.3ML each day.
“We sometimes spend the whole week without getting water from our taps,”
said Hlengiwe Mtsweni of Thembalethu village, illustrating how the shortfalls translate into daily hardship. Mtsweni also told reporters she spends around R300 a month buying water from local vendors.
Contracts and who supplies what
The municipality relies on other metros and water boards because it does not have sufficient of its own bulk sources. Among these suppliers, Rand Water has reportedly been supplying slightly more than its contracted 30ML a day, but other contracted sources have under‑performed.
| Supplier | Contracted daily supply | Actual supplied (reported) |
|---|---|---|
| City of Tshwane | 16.6ML | 0.35ML |
| Dr JS Moroka Local Municipality | 5ML | 0.02ML |
| Rand Water | 30ML | slightly more than contracted |
Legal and oversight interventions
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) found in 2021 that Thembisile Hani was violating residents’ right of access to basic water. After mediation with the City of Tshwane failed, the municipality launched an intergovernmental dispute in October 2025. According to the court papers, the municipality said no response had been received to its requests for resolution.
The DA's high court action prompted the municipality to admit the deterioration in an affidavit, setting out the scale of contracted versus received bulk water.
Impact on communities
Residents say rationing, buying water and long waits at shared taps are the norm. Sphiwe Ntuli from Tweefontein G village said taps operate for only two hours some weeks, typically on a single day. Local budgets are strained: Mtsweni’s R300 monthly spend on vendor water is an added burden for many households.
- Daily municipal demand: 99ML
- Contracted bulk supply: 51.6ML
- Average received from bulk sources: 41.7ML
- Reported shortfall per day: 57.3ML
What this means for Mpumalanga
Thembisile Hani’s situation underlines how dependent some Mpumalanga municipalities are on intermunicipal bulk supply agreements. When a contracted supplier fails to deliver, the consequences quickly ripple through local economies, tourism nodes and household health. For residents this means increased expenditure, time lost collecting water and heightened hygiene risks.
Municipalities that lack their own bulk sources must manage contracts proactively and pursue remedies when suppliers under‑perform. The legal dispute and the SAHRC finding show there are both governance and human rights dimensions to the crisis.
Practical information for residents
Households experiencing prolonged outages should:
- Report water interruptions to the municipal call centre and log the case at their local municipal office;
- Keep records of any expenditure on purchased water and of water delivery requests, which may support claims or complaints to oversight bodies;
- Contact local ward councillors and assembly forums to press for scheduled tanker deliveries and clear communication on supply plans.
Municipalities and provincial oversight agencies are under pressure to explain how they will close the significant daily shortfall and to ensure residents can access safe, reliable water without resorting to expensive informal vendors.
This report is based on court filings and GroundUp reporting detailing contracted and actual bulk water volumes and on interviews with residents affected by the shortages.
