Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Cllr Marieta Visser and Sesotho soundbite by Jafta Mokoena MPL.
The Democratic Alliance in Masilonyana will escalate the raw water flowing from the Sandvet Canal to the MEC of CoGTA to intervene. Brandfort receives raw water from the Sandvet Canal through a pipeline with 3 pump stations.
This pipeline was a state-of-the-art installation when it was handed over to the municipality in 2017, fully equipped with every station having two motors, two pumps, and telemetry to coordinate operations between A station 10 km from Theunissen, B station in the middle, and C station 10 km from Brandfort.
Frequent breakdowns at these stations leave the community without water for days, sometimes weeks. There is no backup equipment as per design in any of the stations.
On 9 December 2024, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) conducted a search-and-seizure operation to investigate a former contractor/service provider.
Unfortunately, the breakdowns are still happening with increased frequency.
On Monday, 19 December 2025, the municipality informed the community that a pump at C Station broke down. On Thursday, 15 January 2026, residents of Brandfort could open taps after 17 (seventeen) days without water. Water was provided with two tankers, which were dismally inadequate for 13,000 residents during a heatwave.
Only after our press statement on 9 January 2026 was an update issued, and extra tankers were sent in.
Residents stepped in to mitigate the life-threatening crisis by providing water across all areas, with thousands of litres from private boreholes. Residents fetched loads of buckets from the township, filled them in town, and returned them, all at their own expense. Others installed water tanks on their private vehicles and distributed water all over, till long after dark.
On 17/6/25, there was also a breakdown at C Station, followed 6 months later by another on 29/12/25.
Station A experienced a breakdown in October 2025, necessitating the replacement of both the pump and the motor. Station B had a breakdown on 12 May 2025.
Each of these breakdowns left Brandfort without water for days, even weeks.
Since these breakdowns are treated as emergencies, it becomes possible to sideline prescribed supply chain management processes.
Questions of which notice was given as per Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000, Section 52, were submitted to the Speaker and the Municipal Manager in July 2024.
This comprehensive question included an item on maintenance: Please provide full maintenance plans for each component, as well as corrective measures/consequence management for failure to perform regular maintenance as per the plan.
The Speaker of Masilonyana, Mr Stephen Makata, did not include, as per the norm, this question in the agenda of the next Ordinary Council Sitting as prescribed.
This failure to perform his duties as Speaker enables the Administration to proceed with actions that have devastating consequences for the affected communities. As Councillors, we do due diligence to perform oversight and ask questions, but without any performance improvement or consequence management following.
Masilonyana can only hope for any improvement in service delivery when the political landscape changes.
In this year of Local Elections, residents must carefully choose leaders who will truly represent them and their best interests.