ActionSA lays Public Protector & SAHRC complaints against Randall Williams & City of Tshwane over Rooiwal Water Treatment Plant

23 May 2023

ActionSA has lodged complaints against the City of Tshwane and its former Executive Mayor, Randall Williams, with the Public Protector and South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) for their failure to act on the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Plant (RWTP) which may have led to the current cholera outbreak.

Appreciating that this has been a persistent issue for almost two decades, we will not be surprised if these Chapter 9 investigations uncover that other city mayors and city officials have been complicit in the precipitous decline in water access and quality in Hammanskraal and its surrounds.

As a responsible coalition partner, ActionSA stands at the ready to work together with Executive Mayor Cilliers Brink to assist in the mitigation of the crisis created, in part, by his predecessor/(s) to ensure that this outbreak is contained.

It is ActionSA’s belief that the current cholera outbreak which has killed 15 people in Hammanskraal is possibly directly linked to the fact that the RWTP is dysfunctional which both Williams and the City of Tshwane have failed to address.

If Williams and the city did not delay cancellation of the irregular RWTP tender and delayed the implementation of an investigation report, the current cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal could, in all likelihood, have been avoided.

Following the contract’s cancellation, ActionSA requested that the contract be investigated, and Williams delayed submitting the report to the council for three months despite repeated requests from ActionSA to table the report so we could begin to deal with Hammanskraal’s water issues meaningfully.

ActionSA has long championed the Hammanskraal water issue, having instituted its own independent commission of inquiry into water quality in 2021. Among other initiatives, ActionSA has championed:

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) agreed to investigate corruption in the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Plant after ActionSA handed over our report on the matter.

Tabling a motion for the city to investigate the tender processes involved in Hammanskraal.

Lobbying for the city council to ensure that the City Manager implements the recommendations of the city investigation report and that Municipal Public Accounts Committees (MPAC) monitor the implementation of the report.

In truth, Williams failed dismally to address ActionSA’s concerns with regard to the Hammanskraal water crisis and even delayed the tabling of investigations into it – which contributed, in large part, to ActionSA agitating for his removal at the helm of the city.

ActionSA hopes that the Public Protector and SAHRC will speedily investigate our concerns in this regard to ensure that the community of Hammanskraal gets the justice they deserve after repeatedly being let down.

Issued by Jackie Mathabathe, ActionSA Tshwane Regional Chairperson, 23 May 2023