By Marius Opperman – DA Councillor in Thaba Chweu Local Municipality
-Lydenburg residents are once again subjected to water outages.
-The water purification plant in the area is not pumping at optimal capacity.
-We have asked the Technical Service Department to address this.
7 October 2026
Release: Immediate
The Democratic Alliance in Thaba Chweu calls on the Director for Technical Service, Elsie Kekana, to urgently intervene at the Lydenburg water Purification Plant, following serious operational problems that are contributing to prolonged water shortages across large parts of Lydenburg.
According to information available to the DA, the purification plant is currently undergoing refurbishment. However, the blowers are presently not operational, which means that the plant cannot carry out its normal backwashing process.
This has a direct knock-on effect on the plant’s operation. When the plant cannot be properly backwashed, the sump level drops, causing the automated level switches to deactivate the pumps once the water reaches a certain level.
The result is predictable: pumping stops, reservoirs are not adequately replenished and large parts of Lydenburg experience prolonged periods without water. As a result, residents are understandably frustrated.
Water is not a luxury. It is an essential municipal service, and households cannot reasonably be expected to plan their lives around whether water will be available for a few hours each day.This is particularly concerning because Lydenburg has experienced water-supply problems before.
The town’s water infrastructure has also been the subject of serious concerns and regulatory attention over a number of years. In 2022, Thaba Chweu Local Municipality was found guilty of seven environmental charges involving, among other matters, pollution affecting water resources and the management of its water and sanitation infrastructure.
Refurbishment cannot become an excuse for unreliable service. There is an important distinction between refurbishing infrastructure and allowing essential services to deteriorate during the refurbishment process.
A refurbishment project should ultimately improve the reliability of the water system. Residents should therefore be given a clear implementation plan, including what temporary arrangements are in place while critical equipment is non operational.
Residents of Thaba Chweu have an opportunity to vote for a DA government in the upcoming Local Government Elections on November 4. Once elected, the DA will provide water without any interruptions, and infrastructure will be maintained regularly.
The municipality needs to communicate openly with residents rather than leaving households to discover for themselves that there is no water. Residents deserve to know when the water will be restored, what caused the interruption and what is being done to prevent the same problem from happening again.
The DA will continue to monitor the situation and will seek answers from the municipality on behalf of affected residents.
Media Enquiries:
Marius Opperman
DA Councillor Thaba Chweu Local Municipality
079 974 1737