The Public Protector will investigate the City of Tshwane over the Bronkhorstspruit water failure, the office said in a statement carried by SAnews on Friday.
The investigation covers allegations of maladministration, improper conduct and prejudice, the statement said. It follows 408 cases of gastrointestinal illness in the area, which the Public Protector’s statement links to water from the Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Works.
Two complaints
Two complaints reached the Public Protector, from Omphile Maotwe, a Member of Parliament and the Economic Freedom Fighters’ treasurer-general, and from Willie Spies, the Freedom Front Plus regional leader. These are allegations, and the office has not made any finding on them.
Maotwe alleged that the city did not chlorinate the water between 24 September and 14 October 2026, and did not warn residents that it was unsafe to drink. She said 408 people, most of them children under the age of four, fell ill. She also alleged that the city ran out of chlorine because of problems with its supplier.
Spies asked the office to investigate alleged maladministration and improper conduct by the city. His complaint listed a failure to pass critical information to senior management, inadequate oversight at the plant and the failure to warn residents.
What investigators found on site
Investigators visited the plant to “verify the allegations and establish what interim measures had been put in place to protect residents from unsafe water”, the office said. The team was told the plant had been decommissioned as an interim measure so that the whole water system could be cleaned and disinfected. It was also told that water tankers would supply the affected community.
Next, investigators will ask the Tshwane city manager for a formal response to the allegations. Meanwhile the investigators will work with the Bronkhorstspruit community to monitor how the city’s temporary water supply is carried out, the statement said.
What the government has already said
The complaints cover ground that national government has already reported on. In a joint statement on 19 October, the ministries of Health and of Water and Sanitation, the Gauteng provincial government and the City of Tshwane said 408 cases were reported between 7 and 18 October. New cases peaked at 72 on 13 October and fell to 16 on 18 October. No deaths had been reported.
According to that statement, the Department of Water and Sanitation found that the city had difficulties with its chlorine supplier, so the water was not chlorinated from 24 September to 14 October. It also found that the city never told residents in the affected areas of the missing chlorine, which the 2025 Compulsory Standards for Water Services require. Department tests on 14 October found extremely high E. coli and total coliform counts at the works outlet and in two reservoirs.
The statement said accountability steps had been started against those responsible. The city closed the works on 14 October, restored the chlorine supply by 15 October and reopened the works on 16 October, while telling residents the water was not yet fit to drink. It has supplied drinking water by tanker since 14 October, 36 tankers in all, taken from the Cullinan works.
The statement gave no date by which residents will be able to drink water from their taps again. It said the city is appointing Rand Water to help improve the works and that the city spent R21 million on the plant in the current financial year, with more than R107 million spent and planned over three years. Our earlier report on the joint government statement sets out the full timeline.
The city’s formal response to the Public Protector is not yet public. The Water Research Commission is due to release its independent report on the causes by 28 October.
