Pretoria – Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and the Democratic Alliance (DA) have clashed over the water crisis in Hammanskraal, with both sides accusing the other of failing residents.
The latest political row follows the DA’s launch of a billboard in Hammanskraal accusing the ANC and ActionSA of spending R777 million on water tankers in Tshwane.
The billboard urges residents to “Take back your city from water tanker mafia! Vote DA” ahead of the upcoming local government elections.
According to IOL, Lesufi dismissed the campaign as political opportunism and questioned the DA’s record when it previously governed Tshwane.
“They are being opportunistic. The water tankers of Tshwane, the current contract of water tankers, who appointed them? It’s the DA. They were running that city,” Lesufi said.
The premier said Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni were now moving towards greater municipal ownership of water tankers instead of relying on privately owned vehicles.
“If you go to Tshwane, we have changed that. We have water tankers that are owned by the municipality, no longer owned by individuals, including in Ekurhuleni and in Johannesburg. We are working towards that,” he said.
Lesufi accused the DA of running out of ideas and using issues it had failed to resolve while in government as election campaign material.
“It is just opportunistic and a stance that the DA now have run out of ideas,” he said.
DA Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink hit back, arguing that the party’s billboard was highlighting what he described as failures by the ANC and ActionSA in Tshwane.
Brink said in a Facebook post that water treatment package plant intended to provide Hammanskraal with clean drinking water was nearly completed while the DA governed Tshwane.
According to Brink, the project was not completed after the DA lost control of the municipality.
He also alleged that companies linked to ANC Tshwane Regional Treasurer Rhulani James Shelenge and Tshwane Deputy Mayor Eugene Modise collectively received close to R32 million from water trucking.
🚰🚨This weekend, the DA shines a spotlight on how Hammanskraal residents have been experiencing a lack of service delivery, as water services have been disrupted by ANC-enabled water tanker mafias.
Tshwane, stand up, take back your water and take back your city; vote DA on the… pic.twitter.com/1aOInEX5GI
— DA Gauteng (@DAGauteng) August 29, 2026
Brink said the alleged tender practices in Tshwane had also been raised at the Madlanga Commission.
He accused Lesufi of lacking the moral authority to criticise the DA over the water crisis.
“The last person that should point a finger is Panyaza. His hotel shower escapades are well known,” Brink said.
His comments referred to remarks Lesufi made earlier this year about staying at a hotel to shower during water shortages in Gauteng.
Brink said the provincial government should have done more to address the water crisis in Hammanskraal instead of relying on water tankers.
“Instead of trying to take the moral high ground, he should look at what his government could have done to help the people of Hammanskraal, and not water tanker mafia bosses,” he said.
Lesufi, however, pointed to the DA’s previous administration of Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg, arguing that the party had also presided over serious challenges in those municipalities.
@encanews President Cyril Ramaphosa has launched a new borehole project at Kekana Gardens in Hammanskraal to improve water supply. Residents have been battling contaminated water supply and dry taps. Tune in to #eNCA, channel #DStv403. ♬ original sound – eNCA
He cited the Hammanskraal cholera outbreak in 2023, which claimed several lives, as well as the controversial GladAfrica matter during the DA’s time in Tshwane.
“They were running Ekurhuleni when Cat Matlala came. We didn’t stoop low and make the noise that they are making,” Lesufi said.
He also accused the DA of failing to resolve problems in Johannesburg while it was in control of the city.
Brink said the upcoming local government elections would give Hammanskraal residents an opportunity to decide which party they trust to address the water crisis.
“The people of Hammanskraal will be able to rid themselves of water tankers. The DA will finish the project we started, and the ANC and ActionSA will be relegated to the opposition benches, where they belong,” he said.
Lesufi maintained that the DA’s campaign was an attempt to rewrite its own record in municipalities it previously governed.
“Their latest billboard is nothing else. They know now that no one believes them, because all the things they are saying they are going to do, they failed to do them,” he said.
The dispute places Hammanskraal’s long-running water crisis at the centre of the political contest ahead of the local government elections, with both parties promising residents a different solution to their continued reliance on water tankers.
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Picture: Facebook/ Cilliers Brink
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Compiled by Glaan Sibuyi
