Residents of Langloop in Ward 25, Tembisa Section, under the Nkomazi Local Municipality, have been living without access to clean water for more than ten years — a shocking reality highlighted during an oversight visit by ActionSA this week.

According to ActionSA Member of the Mpumalanga Legislature, Thoko Mashiane, the visit exposed the ongoing suffering of families who have been forced to rely on unsafe and unreliable water sources since as far back as 2015. “It is unacceptable that in 2025, residents in Nkomazi are still denied access to clean and reliable water,” Mashiane said, condemning the municipality’s continued failure to deliver on its promises.

During the visit, residents voiced their frustration and desperation, saying they travel long distances daily — often with children and the elderly — to fetch water from faraway streams or boreholes. Many believe the crisis represents not only service delivery failure but a total breakdown of local accountability.

“What is most disheartening,” Mashiane noted, “is that the ward councillor lives within the same community yet has failed to bring a sustainable solution. This reflects the deep disconnect between political representatives and the people they are meant to serve.”

ActionSA has called on the Nkomazi Local Municipality to urgently restore the water supply to Langloop and release a detailed report explaining why the community has been neglected for so long. The party insists that access to clean water is a constitutional right, not a privilege, and vowed to continue conducting oversight visits across Mpumalanga to expose service delivery failures.

“We will not rest until every resident of this province enjoys their right to water,” Mashiane concluded.