MASHATILE TAKES CHARGE — DEPUTY PRESIDENT STORMS INTO BRONKHORSTSPRUIT, PROMISES: NO ONE WILL GO WITHOUT SAFE WATER
By Mpho Dube, Editor-in-Chief
The Azanian | Truth. Fearless. Unfiltered.
AZANIAFROCOMEDIA – The Catalyst of Impact
BRONKHORSTSPRUIT —This is what leadership looks like. While committees debated, while officials hid behind statements, Deputy President Paul Mashatile got in his car and went to the people.
On Monday, Mashatile arrived in the City of Tshwane to confront the Bronkhorstspruit water crisis head-on — a crisis that saw more than 500 cases of gastrointestinal illness reported after residents consumed contaminated water.
He did not send anyone. He did not send a tweet. He came himself.
As Chairperson of the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Water and Sanitation, Mashatile is the man President Ramaphosa trusts to fix South Africa's water crisis. And on Monday, he showed why.
Mashatile went straight to the Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Works (BWTW) — the heart of the crisis — to assess the situation, receive a full update on the condition of the infrastructure, and engage authorities on the measures being implemented to restore safety and reliability.
Then he did what true leaders do: He went to the hospitalised patients. He looked the victims in the eyes. He listened to mothers, to elders, to children who fell ill from the very water that was supposed to give them life.
And then he gave South Africa a promise — clear, firm, presidential:
"Arrangements have been made for people to get water from other sources. The city is supplying water in the meantime, so there's nobody who will go without water whilst this plant is being attended to."
No one will go without water. That is a Mashatile guarantee.
The Deputy President also showed he is not afraid to confront the rot. He raised serious concerns about private water suppliers and water tankers profiteering from the crisis.
"We are quite concerned about private suppliers of water with water tankers because we don't know where they get that water from. So, there will be an intervention to check those."
That is the Mashatile difference. While others allow the "water tanker mafia" to exploit suffering communities, Mashatile is moving to shut them down and check every tanker, every source, every supplier.
This visit comes after the City of Tshwane lifted a boil-water advisory for Pretoria's CBD after laboratory tests confirmed the water was safe to drink — no detectable E. coli or total coliform bacteria. The contamination was traced to groundwater from the Fountains springs. The city isolated the source, switched to Salvokop Reservoir, cleaned Findlay Reservoir, and applied chlorine shock treatment.
But Mashatile knows Pretoria CBD is not enough. Bronkhorstspruit matters. Ekangala matters. Every township matters.
That is why the plant manager has now been suspended pending an independent investigation into chlorine-supply problems and alleged failures to escalate risks. That is why the SA Human Rights Commission and the Public Protector are investigating. Accountability is coming — and Mashatile is leading it.
Critics talk about coalition fractures. They talk about blame. Mashatile talks about solutions.
The IMC he chairs is co-ordinating government interventions to address water and sanitation challenges, strengthen accountability, and accelerate responses to service delivery concerns affecting communities. It is not a talk shop. It is a war room — and Mashatile is its commander.
From KZN, where he launched the Babanango Communal Water Supply Scheme, to Bronkhorstspruit today, Mashatile has one message: Water is life. Water is dignity. Water is a human right.
South Africans in Bronkhorstspruit today did not see a politician posing for cameras. They saw a Deputy President who showed up, who took charge, who promised safe water — and who will deliver it.
Mashatile has spoken. The plant will be fixed. The tankers will be checked. The people will get safe water.That is leadership. That is power. That is a President in action.
Comments