Please find attached soundbites in Afrikaans and English by Soret Viljoen.
- Ottosdal businesses and surrounding households have been without a reliable water supply since June 2026.
- Businesses are being forced to source water elsewhere just to remain operational, putting jobs at risk.
- DA calls on the MEC of CoGHSTA to intervene as Tswaing and Ngaka Modiri Molema municipalities continue passing responsibility between each other.
Businesses and households in Ottosdal have been struggling without a reliable water supply since June 2026, forcing businesses to source water from elsewhere simply to keep their doors open.
One affected business employs 30 people — jobs that depend on the business being able to operate.
The ongoing water crisis has repeatedly been reported to Tswaing Local Municipality’s Technical Director, Mr Thabo Meerken, the Mayor and Acting Municipal Manager, as well as officials and the Executive Mayor of Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality.
Yet months later, residents and businesses are still expected to find their own solutions.
This is more than an inconvenience. Water is essential for businesses to operate, employees to work and local economies to survive.
The situation is particularly concerning as businesses across Tswaing’s three towns, Delareyville, Ottosdal and Sannieshof, continue to face difficult operating conditions. Recent closures, including Jet Stores and Crazy Store in Delareyville, demonstrate what happens when local economies are allowed to deteriorate.
The continued failure of both Tswaing Local Municipality and Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality to resolve the water crisis is also exposing a familiar problem: each government entity passes responsibility to the other while businesses and residents carry the consequences.
Government has a responsibility to create an environment where businesses can operate, jobs can be sustained and communities can grow. You cannot talk about local economic development while businesses cannot even access a reliable water supply.
The DA will therefore write to the MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (CoGHSTA), Mr Oageng Molapisi, calling for immediate intervention to ensure that water is restored to affected businesses and households in Ottosdal, and that the responsible municipality is held accountable for resolving the ongoing failure.
Our Working for All Manifesto recognises that reliable basic services and functioning infrastructure are essential to economic growth, investment and job creation.
Ottosdal businesses should not have to choose between buying water and paying their employees. Residents should not have to live without a basic service for months.
We will continue to fight for reliable services, accountable government and an economy where businesses can stay open and people can stay employed.
Ottosdal needs water. Its businesses need certainty. Its residents need government that works for all.