As South Africa’s water crisis deepens, a senior ANC leader has delivered a blunt warning to the party’s municipal deployees: crush the “water tanker mafia,” or lose the communities you were elected to serve.
Jeff Radebe, the ANC’s convener in KwaZulu-Natal, used his closing address at a two-day provincial lekgotla in Durban to issue an uncompromising call for action against corruption in water supply.
“Comrades, I am sure most of you know how many officials have been killed in eThekwini because of water-related issues,” Radebe told delegates. “This is very serious, and witnesses have spoken about this in the Madlanga Commission and in the Ad Hoc Committee. We must be uncompromising against crime and corruption, irrespective of who is involved, otherwise people will lose confidence in us.”
The Water Tanker Mafia
The term “water tanker mafia” refers to organised criminal networks that have infiltrated the supply of water in municipalities across South Africa. These networks manipulate tenders, control the distribution of water tankers, and in some cases, resort to violence to protect their grip on the lucrative trade.
Witnesses before the Madlanga Commissionwhich is investigating widespread corruption in Ekurhuleni and beyondhave testified about the killing of municipal officials who attempted to challenge these networks. The same patterns have emerged in eThekwini, where Radebe says officials have paid with their lives.
Sympathy for Johannesburg
Radebe expressed sympathy for residents of Johannesburg, who have endured prolonged water outages and taken to the streets in protest.
“I fully understand how difficult it is to go days without water,” he said.
His remarks acknowledged what millions of South Africans already know: the water crisis is not merely a technical failure of infrastructure. It is a governance failure, compounded by corruption, criminality, and a loss of municipal capacity.
Fixing Local Government, Fixing the Party
Radebe’s address came as the ANC prepares for local government elections expected within the next 12 months. The stakes are existential. In the 2024 general elections, the party was decimated in KwaZulu-Natal, relegated to third place in the provincial legislature by Jacob Zuma’s Umkhonto weSizwe Party.
“Comrades, fixing local government means we must fix ourselves first,” Radebe said. “There were times when our province was the biggest ANC (province) in the country in terms of support. We must work hard to reclaim that position.”
Ramaphosa to Address KZN Rally
Radebe announced that President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver the keynote address at the party’s provincial 114th anniversary celebration at Overport Cricket Stadium in Durban on 7 March.
The call for mass mobilisation comes after the humiliating attendance at the national party birthday celebration in North West last month. Radebe urged all 11 regions, particularly eThekwini, to turn out in force “to show that the party is still alive in the province.”
The Deeper Challenge
The water tanker mafia is not merely a criminal nuisance. It is a symptom of deeper dysfunction: municipalities that have lost the capacity to deliver basic services, leaving residents dependent on private tankers controlled by networks that operate outside the law.
When officials who try to intervene are killed, and perpetrators are not brought to justice, the message to communities is unmistakable: the state is either unwilling or unable to protect them.
Radebe’s call to “crush” these networks is rhetorically powerful. But implementation will require more than speeches. It will require arrests, prosecutions, and the restoration of municipal capacity to deliver water without relying on shadowy intermediaries.
Whether the party can deliver that before voters go to the polls remains an open question. What is certain is that communities are watchingand as Radebe warned, they will not wait forever.
