Residents will gather at the Govan Mbeki municipal offices at 09:00 on Wednesday, 25 February, before attending the open gallery of the council meeting at 10:00. The message is simple: enough is enough.
The Scale of the Crisis
According to DA councillor Fiona Pelman, the situation has become unbearable.
“Residents in higher-lying areas of Secunda have now endured 15 consecutive days without reliable water supply, with only a brief trickle reported in some parts during the early hours of this morning,” Pelman said earlier this week.
“Pressure conditions across the town continue to indicate that while some lower-lying areas intermittently receive water, elevated neighbourhoods remain largely without supply, reflecting ongoing imbalance within the municipal distribution network.”
Ward 21 in Secunda has been among the hardest-hit areas. Many households have had no water for over two weeks and are reliant on water tankers for basic needs. Elderly residents, Pelman noted, have found it particularly hard to queue for water.
In Trichardt, the supply is intermittentcoming and going without warning. Bethal has been affected for more than a month.
The Constitutional Violation
Pelman has written to Govan Mbeki municipal manager Elliot Maseko, demanding an operational strategy plan to restore equitable water supply. She stressed that the current failure is not merely a service delivery lapseit is a violation of rights.
“The DA reiterates that access to sufficient water is clearly stated under Section 27 of the Constitution of South Africa. Prolonged interruption and unequal distribution of municipal water supply raise serious service-delivery, public-health and human-rights concerns.”
What Residents Want
The protesters have a clear demand: a tangible water solution plan for Secunda and other towns. They want to know when the taps will flow again, and what the municipality is doing to fix the underlying distribution failures.
“On behalf of affected communities we call for urgent operational intervention to restore balanced supply across Secunda and the broader municipality,” Pelman said.
The Bigger Picture
Secunda’s water crisis is not an isolated incident. Across South Africa, municipalities are struggling to maintain ageing infrastructure, manage demand, and ensure equitable distribution. But for the residents of Ward 21, the national context offers little comfort.
They have been dry for 17 days. They have queued for tankers. They have watched lower-lying areas get water while their taps remain silent.
Tomorrow, they will take their frustration to the council chamber. Whether the municipality will finally listenand actremains to be seen.
