The Democratic Alliance (DA) has established that delays in upgrading the Commando Water system, which supplies water from Emmarentia to Westbury, are due to the non-payment of contractors.
The critically important rehabilitation of the Hursthill 2 Reservoir has been pushed back repeatedly. Its original completion date of 9 April 2026 was first revised to 31 July 2026, then recently pushed back again to 29 September 2026. We have now learned that due to persistent non-payment by the City to the contractor, work has been delayed indefinitely and may only be completed and handed over sometime in 2027.
The same pattern of delays has affected the laying of a new main line intended to feed larger volumes of water into the Commando system from Rand Water’s Eikenhof infrastructure. This critical component is designed to ensure adequate bulk supply and accelerate the recovery of Commando system reservoirs. Non-payment by the City has again caused significant delays, and no completion date has been set.
The communities serviced by the Commando system stretching from Emmarentia, Victory Park, Westbury, Coronationville, Brixton, Melville, City Deep, and all areas in between, have endured persistent and extended water outages that have grown progressively worse over the better part of a decade.
The DA has fought hard to get these critical upgrades, and rehabilitation works budgeted and placed on the City’s infrastructure agenda. However, the ANC-led coalition government, propped up by the EFF, PA, Al Jama-ah, and various small one seat parties have failed to prioritise the financing needed to see these projects through.
Instead of funding critical infrastructure, this ANC-led coalition has chosen to more than triple senior management posts within the City, creating cushy, well-paid positions for cadres and political allies.
They have pushed through a politically facilitated R10.3 billion agreement with SAMWU, which is little more than a vote and support-buying exercise, all while billions of rands continue to be lost to unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure. Residents go without water while the City bankrolls its political survival.
This failure, under the leadership of Mayor Dada Morero, is a direct violation of residents’ constitutional rights to access water and to live with dignity. The DA will continue to fight on behalf of affected residents and hold this inept and corrupt administration accountable until the City prioritises this critical infrastructure and delivers the reliable water supply these communities deserve.