Press Statement by Sankie Mndawe: DA Councillor in Nkomazi Local Municipality
-Nkomazi municipality failed to pay for drinking water quality tests.
-Regulatory bodies cannot determine if the municipality is providing decent drinking water to its residents.
-We have asked the Municipal Manager to address this.
8 October 2026
Release: Immediate
The DA in Nkomazi calls on the Municipal Manager, Oscar Nkosi, to come up with a remedial plan detailing how the municipality will meet its water sampling targets.
This comes after it emerged that a service provider withheld the municipality’s water
sampling and analysis results due to non-payment.
Interestingly, the municipality had planned that by 30 June 2026, 16 of its water supply systems and their boreholes linked into the system would be sampled and monitored for water quality compliance (Blue Drop Status).
To date, none of these water supply systems have been sampled. The municipality’s fourth quarter performance report explains that the lab results are not available and that compliance cannot be calculated by the Integrated Regulation Information System (IRIS).
Despite alarming Blue Drop Reports in the past, the municipality is still disregarding the importance of water sampling. The municipality’s negligence could lead to an outbreak of waterborne diseases as the quality of water in Nkomazi keeps deteriorating.
This goes to show that the ANC administration in Nkomazi still does not care about the welfare of residents. They are more concerned with shielding their alleged maladministration, instead of protecting the community from poor quality water.
With the 2026 Local Government Elections taking place in the upcoming weeks, residents of Nkomazi have a chance to put an end to this. Nkomazi is going through a financial crisis because of the ANC’s inability to govern.
If elected, the DA will appoint skilled and competent administrators who will ensure that such services are paid for in time and quality water will be provided.
A municipality that cannot reliably provide basic services also undermines local economic growth and job creation. Businesses cannot thrive, attract investment or create sustainable jobs in communities where essential services such as water are not properly managed.
The DA remains committed to pursuing this issue and will not rest until proper oversight and corrective actions are in place. We will not sit back and let the residents of Nkomazi bear the brunt of poor service delivery. We will pursue every available avenue to ensure that this water crisis is urgently resolved.
For media enquiries:
Sankie Mndawe
DA Councillor Nkomazi Local Municipality
072 016 154