MAYOR MOYA REJECTS MISLEADING CLAIMS ABOUT BRONKHORSTSRUIT WATER CRISIS

By Dr Nasiphi Moya
Tshwane Executive Mayor

I am deeply disappointed by the continued attempts by former Executive Mayor Cilliers Brink to exploit the water crisis in Bronkhorstspruit for political advantage, including through misleading claims about cholera and the recycling of allegations
about the City’s expenditure on water tankers that have already been publicly
addressed.

At a time when residents are understandably concerned about their health and safety, Mr Brink has chosen to amplify fears of another cholera outbreak without adequately explaining the scientific findings available to date.

Let me be absolutely clear: cholera has not been identified as the cause of the
gastrointestinal illness outbreak in Bronkhorstspruit.

While a variant of Vibrio cholerae was identified in water samples, the technical
information provided to the City indicates that this is not the variant associated with epidemic cholera.

Furthermore, no cholera bacteria have been detected in the patient stool samples tested to date.

Mr Brink knows the distinction between identifying bacteria in environmental samples and establishing the cause of an outbreak.

During the devastating Hammanskraal cholera outbreak in 2023, when he was Executive Mayor, he himself cautioned against premature conclusions and emphasised the importance of scientific investigations.

It is therefore particularly irresponsible for him to create the impression that another cholera outbreak has been confirmed when the available evidence does not support that conclusion.

Political differences should never become an excuse for creating unnecessary fear among residents.

Moreover, the financial record contradicts his misleading claims of neglected
infrastructure.

Mr Brink has attempted to portray the current administration as having
neglected the Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Works in favour of water tanker
contractors.

The City’s own approved budgets demonstrate that the refurbishment of the plant is
a longstanding project, but also show how substantially funding has increased under
the current administration.

During Mr Brink’s mayoralty, the City approved an adjusted allocation of R1.2 million for the plant in 2023/24 and an initial R5 million for 2024/25.

Following the change of administration, the latter allocation was increased to R6 million.

In 2025/26, the City recorded approximately R20.8 million in actual expenditure on
the plant’s refurbishment.

The current administration has subsequently approved R57 million for 2026/27, with a further R30 million provided for in 2027/28.

This represents more than R107 million in expenditure and planned investment over
the three financial years from 2025/26 to 2027/28 alone.

These are Council-approved financial commitments, not political promises invented in response to the current crisis.

Indeed, in March 2026, I publicly identified Bronkhorstspruit as a priority under the City’s Water Stabilisation Plan, including interventions to restore pumping capacity and replace filtration equipment.

Mr Brink is entitled to criticise the pace of refurbishment, but he cannot credibly
suggest that the current administration has failed to prioritise investment in the plant while disregarding the substantial increases in funding reflected in successive municipal budgets.

Equally misleading is Mr Brink’s continued insistence that the current administration
spent R777 million on water tankers during the 2024/25 financial year.

The City comprehensively rebutted this allegation in October 2025, when we publicly presented the financial records establishing that the figure represented purchase orders recorded on the SAP system, including approximately R156 million in
cancelled, duplicated or unprocessed transactions.

The actual expenditure attributable to services delivered during 2024/25 was approximately R441 million, of which approximately R99 million was incurred before the current administration assumed office.

Moreover, approximately R180 million in unpaid invoices for water tanker services incurred during the 2023/24 financial year, under Mr Brink’s administration, had to be settled in the following financial year after the budget for these services had been exhausted.

These figures have been publicly available for almost a year.

Repeating the R777 million claim without acknowledging the reconciliation does not make it true.

The suggestion that the City deliberately allowed its water infrastructure to
deteriorate to benefit a so-called water tanker mafia is an extraordinary allegation for which Mr Brink has presented no evidence.

In fact, this administration has taken deliberate steps to reduce reliance on
outsourced water tankers, including commissioning additional municipal vehicles, reducing monthly tanker expenditure and redirecting resources towards permanent water infrastructure.

There is also a striking contradiction in the suggestion that deploying emergency
water tankers somehow demonstrates improper conduct.

During the ongoing Bronkhorstspruit response, Deputy Minister of Water and
Sanitation Jack Bloom, himself a senior Democratic Alliance public representative,
has repeatedly urged the City in intergovernmental engagements to increase the number of water tankers available to affected communities to ensure that residents have access to safe drinking water.

We agree with the Deputy Minister.

Where tap water is unsafe, providing alternative drinking water is an essential public-health responsibility.

It cannot simultaneously be presented as evidence of wrongdoing simply because the City is fulfilling that responsibility.

Mr Brink cannot reasonably condemn the provision of emergency water tankers
while his own party’s Deputy Minister is correctly calling for their increased
deployment.

The City of Tshwane will continue working with the national and provincial governments, the Department of Water and Sanitation, and independent technical experts to address the situation in
Bronkhorstspruit.

Mr Brink is welcome to exercise his right to criticise the administration.

However, that does not entitle him to misrepresent laboratory findings, disregard publicly available financial records or advance serious allegations of corruption without evidence.

The people of Bronkhorstspruit deserve accurate information and practical solutions, not attempts to turn a public-health emergency into an opportunity for political campaigning.