By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Following the violent protests over a lack of water in Ratanda, South-East of Johannesburg, the provincial government has confirmed that water has been restored.
This comes after a payment agreement was reached with Rand Water to settle the municipality’s R27 million-rand debt.
Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi visited the bereaved families of the two men shot during water protests.
The tragic incident comes after the community has been without water for more than three weeks which led to protests and claimed the lives of two residents.
Lesufi says visiting the families of the two men shot during protests in Ratanda was emotionally draining. He says, with the Executive Mayor, they are committed to supporting the families and ensuring they get answers.
The Premier and Executive Mayor of Lesedi Local Municipality Mluleki Nkosi offered condolences to the bereaved families and extended trauma counselling to the affected families.
Nkosi confirmed that government is awaiting an investigation into the deaths, including allegations that one of the victims may have been struck by a stray bullet.
He said discussions are underway with provincial authorities to speed up the release of preliminary findings before the funeral.
“We are engaging with the Premier (Panyaza Lesufi) to ensure the preliminary report is made available before the funeral next week,” Nkosi said.
He added that support measures, including counselling and burial assistance, have been initiated, with dedicated teams assigned to engage affected families.
“We have appointed a team to work with the families and ensure they receive the necessary support, including trauma counselling and burial assistance,” he said.
The protest also had wider consequences beyond the fatalities, as demonstrators also targeted the mayor’s home in anger over ongoing and severe water shortages.
Fullview learnt that SAPS have arrested 15 people for public violence following service delivery protests.
Gauteng police spokesperson Brenda Muridili said investigations are continuing.
“At this stage, investigations with the burning of the executive mayor’s house are ongoing, and police are following up on all available leads. The South African Police Service remains deployed in the area to maintain law and order and will continue to investigate all criminal acts committed during the unrest.”
There are at least four reasons for Gauteng water challenges: inadequate technology and investment, poor sustainability planning, low political maturity and corruption.
“We’ve arrived at the resolution that, Rand Water will give the municipality a two-week grace period to receive the grant that they’re expecting. And during that period, while they’re waiting for that grant, Rand Water will then suspend its restrictions on water, Lesufi said.”
“And probably, as I’m speaking to you now, water is flowing back in that community.”
Nkosi said the municipality is working urgently to fully restore water supply.
“This is a high-lying area, which is why there were protests. The reservoir is currently at 10%, but we are working to increase it so that we can restore water supply to the community,” he said.
The Auditor-General (AG) has painted a worrying picture of local government, saying only 39 municipalities achieved clean audits in the 2024/25 financial year. None of the country’s eight metros received a clean audit, including Gauteng’s three metros.
Gauteng Finance MEC Nkuleko Dunga says six out of eleven municipalities in the province have received unqualified audit opinions.
Dunga addressed the media in Johannesburg in response to the Auditor-General’s consolidated report on municipal audit outcomes, saying that overall, the audit outcomes of the province regressed in the 2024-2025 financial year.