Limpopo’s richest municipality, Polokwane, with an annual budget of more than R7.4 billion, has vowed to do anything possible to ensure the city is accorded metropolitan status, but this ambition risks being derailed by poor water provision, which has for years been haunting Mayor John Mpe and municipal manager Thuso Nemugumoni.
For decades, the provision of water has been a nightmare for both residents and the municipality.
The council is spending more than R20 million every month to pay Lepelle Northern Water, a state-owned water utility responsible for the provision of bulk water in Limpopo’s municipalities.
Mayor promises to improve water supply
Speaking during the city address at the Jack Botes Hall in Polokwane on Friday, Mpe, who doubles up as ANC Limpopo deputy provincial chairperson, said while sanitation is dignity, water is life.
“From the onset of this administration, we understood that no city can grow economically while communities struggle to access a reliable water supply. We therefore adopted a structured intervention programme focused on infrastructure refurbishment, borehole augmentation, reservoir upgrades, pressure management, pipeline replacement and improved coordination with all relevant stakeholders,” said Mpe.
He said one of the most important interventions undertaken by his administration was the Seshego Water Treatment Plant. He said this facility has the capacity to bring between eight and 10 megalitres of water into the municipal system daily.
Mpe told the residents of Polokwane, who packed the hall, that this would bring much-needed relief to the entire water network and stabilise supply to several communities that historically experienced persistent interruptions.
He added that his administration was close to completing 46 water and sanitation projects valued at R907 million. He said Polokwane was currently installing 300km of pipeline across areas hard-hit by water shortages, while thousands of standpipes and yard connections were being delivered to communities.
“A further 25 905 households benefited from water and sanitation interventions aimed at restoring dignity to our people. In this financial year alone, 14 water projects valued at R228.9 million were completed, together with two emergency refurbishment projects. We are not claiming perfection, we are living it, while at the same time we admit that challenges still exist and that pipe bursts still occur,” he said.
The mayor said he was, however, concerned about the rate of illegal connections, which continued to place pressure on the system as demand for water grew with the city’s expansion.
“But unlike before, this municipality now has a structured programme to confront these challenges both in the short term and medium to long-term. As part of our effort to improve sanitation, R2.1 billion was made available by the National Treasury as announced by Minister Enoch Godongwana during the 2026 Budget Speech, to improve regional wastewater projects over the next three years.”
Mpe accused of dreaming
But both the business community and opposition parties said they are not buying Mpe’s story on water provision.
Speaking to The Citizen on the sidelines of the city address, chairman of the Forum of the Limpopo Entrepreneurs, Siviko Mabunda, said it would take a miracle for Polokwane to become a metro.
“Mpe is a good guy, and a leader with unmatched vision. This is a politician in Limpopo who can not hurt even a fly. But those surrounding him are mafia. The majority of the annual budget is going straight into their pockets through dubious tendering processes.
“They are going to award tenders to their political juntas, their political foot soldiers, their family members and concubines. The money will go straight to the municipal fat cats, who benefit from fronting. Long after the projects fail to provide even a single drop of water, there will still be untold stories, which would result in the city and its people being thirsty for years.
“Polokwane will remain Polokwane, as long as Mpe fails to fight corruption, malfeasance and the growing nepotism, regionalism and political polarisation which is viewed as a stumbling block for the municipality’s growth,” said Mabunda.
The EFF, the official opposition in the Limpopo provincial legislature, accused Mpe of dreaming.
“There is no metro riddled with potholes so thick as a fountain, there is no metro with thick bushes, a metro where pensioners and school kids are still propelled to buy water from the well-offs with boreholes in their yards, and there is not a metro whose streets are dark, with overgrown grass.
“Mpe is a human being, and every human being has the right to dream. He must therefore keep on dreaming,” said the EFF’s provincial chairperson, Makgabo Lawrence Mapoulo.
