Tshwane Reduces Water Truck Deliveries to Informal Settlements

Residents of Lethabong informal settlement in Mamelodi must fetch water from a tank on the street.

The City of Tshwane has reduced the number of days it supplies water to 168 informal settlements in Mamelodi. Mayco member for human settlements Aaron Maluleka announced that as of 1 August, supply was reduced from daily to four days a week.

Water will be available on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays “until further notice”, said Maluleka.

GroundUp visited a number of settlements to see the impact of the reduction in service. We found water tanks on many streets were empty. People placed their containers around the tanks to be first in line when the water trucks come to refill them.

In Section 11, Grace Mazibuko said the informal settlements in her area are entirely dependent on trucks, and the amount of water was already too little before the cuts were implemented.

In Skierlik informal settlement, Sophy Mkhondo said the City now sends only one tanker twice a week to her street.

In Lethabong informal settlement, a woman who later asked not to be named, said she spends hours waiting to fill her 20-litre container from a tank on the street, and sometimes the water is finished before she gets her turn. The situation has worsened this month, she said.

“I have six children and the water I fetch here is not enough to wash their clothes and cook food for them.”

Resident Thato Manaka said, “I have to wait in the cold with my baby. I also have to push a wheelbarrow with containers full of water while carrying my baby on my back.”

City spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said Tshwane had in fact increased its water budget for the 2025/26 financial year by R5.7-million to R276-million. The reason for the stretched resources was that the City was busy relocating people from informal settlements to areas without bulk water service in Orchards, Leeuwfontein, Zithobeni Heights and Pienaarspoort.

“The budget was not cut but the services were increased on the current contract. The current budget is not sufficient for the City to supply water daily.”

He said Tshwane has about 280 mobile water tankers to supply about 314,000 households.

Mashigo said, “The City is working in conjunction with beneficiaries to educate them on prudent water usage.”

“The City is also working hard to prevent further land invasions, as it is the main cause of these challenges.”

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