The Democratic Alliance (DA) has sounded the alarm over what it calls a shocking case of mismanagement in Emfuleni, where water worth a staggering R880 million has been lost, even as the municipality poured R57 million into repairing leaks.
The party has slammed the crisis as a “catastrophic failure of governance,” revealing that it has formally requested the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to investigate Emfuleni for violating residents’ constitutional right to access clean water and proper sanitation.
The DA said it is now awaiting the commission’s findings, warning that the municipality’s negligence has turned a basic human right into a daily struggle for survival.
Kingsol Chabalala, DA Emfuleni North Constituency Head, revealed that the municipality lost an astonishing 16.4 million kilolitres of clean water in the 2024/2025 financial year, valued at more than R880 million, despite spending R57 million on 11 service providers contracted to fix the leaks.
The figures were revealed by Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Jacob Mamabolo, in a written reply to questions from the DA tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL).
“The unresolved water leaks caused by infrastructure neglect and failure to replace deteriorating water infrastructure have left residents without reliable access to water and sanitation services.”
Chabalala slammed the situation as “scandalous and unacceptable,” questioning how the municipality could justify spending such an enormous sum on repairs while millions of kilolitres of clean, treated water continue to leak away daily through its crumbling, outdated infrastructure.
“Clearly, the money was not spent on resolving the issue that has been undermining efforts to ensure reliable access to water for its residents,” he said.
Chabalala further highlighted the severity of the crisis, pointing out that Emfuleni senselessly returned R636 million in Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) funds over the past five financial years, money that could have been used to repair crumbling water, sanitation, and road infrastructure.
He added that, shockingly, the municipality also blew R561 million on overtime payments between 2019/2020 and 2023/2024, without any visible improvement in service delivery, describing this as a clear sign of mismanagement, financial recklessness, or deep-rooted corruption.
Emfuleni Municipality Communications Manager, Makhosonke Sangweni, acknowledged the staggering water losses, confirming that the municipality had indeed lost water valued at around R880 million. However, he noted that businesses and households owe the municipality even more, citing factors such as unemployment and non-compliance.
“It's true that we have this loss that amounts to R880mills however, it must be noted that we are owed more by business and Households for various reasons like unemployment and arbitrary failure to comply by others, but we continue to implement rigorous revenue collection plans to enforce compliance and collection for both households and businesses.”
Sangweni further broke down the figures owed to the municipality, revealing that as of the end of August 2025, residents and businesses collectively owed nearly R5 billion.
“The amount owed to us stands at R3.8 billion for water and R1.09 billion for sewer services,” Sangweni said.
He explained that the municipality is grappling with ageing infrastructure, including old asbestos pipes that are both costly and nearly impossible to repair.
Sangweni said the municipality’s limited resources and financial constraints, largely due to a widespread culture of non-payment, have made it difficult to maintain and upgrade essential systems.
“We remain committed to turning the situation around and calling on all stakeholders and customers to fully pay for all the services they receive from the municipality in order for us to be able to replace and improve the infrastructure and optimally perform as the municipality.
“Accordingly, it remains a responsibility of all stakeholders to look after and take care of the infrastructure, reporting leaks and generally taking care of our infrastructure within the municipality and pushing back on destroying the infrastructure, which is not limited to water and electricity,” he added.
However, Sangweni dismissed the DA’s allegations, rejecting claims that the municipality had irresponsibly returned R636 million in Municipal Infrastructure Grant funds over the past five years.
“In addition it's not true that we returned any money back to National Treasury but what happened is that our account was attached by Rand Water for some time and we couldn't access our money and therefore could not spend our MIG grants which we clarified previously and the DA knows that for a fact as one of the parties in council,” he explained.
The DA stated that it will keep a close watch on the SAHRC investigation, expressing confidence that it could deliver meaningful improvements for Emfuleni residents.
The Star
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