Water tanker mafia billboard war

A Democratic Alliance (DA) billboard in eThekwini, which targeted the city’s water tanker mafia, was removed, which the party said showed a lack of accountability.

This campaign tapped into the water problems in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, which leaves people without water for long periods.

The city loses 21 billion litres of water each month, accounting for 65% of the municipality’s capacity. It is partly because of 13,000 active leaks across the city.

The financial cost of water losses in eThekwini reached R2.9 billion in 2024/25, while spending on water tankers has grown from R102.6 million to R814.8 million in five years.

The billboard, issued and printed by Ashor Sarupen, working in the DA’s federal head office, targeted this poor performance in the city.

It showed the City of Ethekwini’s mayor, the city manager and the executive director for water and sanitation.

“You can stop the water tanker mafia. Vote DA for water in your taps,” the payoff line next to the faces of the individuals said.

This billboard was removed by the city, which the DA argued was because officials in the eThekwini government are afraid of accountability.

“They don’t want you to see a billboard that exposes the city’s water tanker mafia,” said the DA’s eThekwini Mayoral Candidate, Haniff Hoosen.

“The DA’s position was clear. We were not willing to remove the billboard. However, it has been taken down.”

“The city has chosen to fight a billboard, threatening legal action to defend incompetence, rather than spending the money on fixing the pipes.”

He argued that the DA’s billboard exposes the officials who failed to prevent the water crisis in Durban.

“The water tanker mafia in eThekwini raked in hundreds of millions of rands of taxpayer money, and the people in charge failed to prevent this from happening,” he said.

“Political parties that practice corruption and patronage will leave communities with water tankers that cost a fortune and deliver unsafe, irregular water.”

Water tanker mafia billboard in Tshwane

The DA’s eThekwini billboard was not the only one which caused unhappiness among its political opponents.

In August 2026, the DA unveiled a billboard attacking the ANC and ActionSA over water-tanker spending in the city.

On Saturday, 29 August 2026, Cilliers Brink promoted the new billboard, stating that the “ANC and ActionSA spent R777 million on water tankers”.

“Under the ANC-led coalition, R777 million was spent on water tankers while the Klipdrift Water Treatment Package Plant stalled,” Brink said.

“The people of Hammanskraal deserve permanent solutions, with clean, reliable water flowing from their taps, not water tankers,” he said.

A day later, ActionSA National Chairperson Michael Beaumont hit back, saying the DA’s Brink Campaign in Tshwane stooped to new lows.

He said residents in the community died of cholera in 2023 because of the tender awarded by the DA government to Edwin Sodi.

“In 2023, 31 residents of Hammanskraal died of cholera arising from the long-standing water crisis that affected the area for nearly 18 years,” he said.

“This was a result of the long-term failures of ANC and DA governments to upgrade the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Plant.”

Beaumont added that, in 2019, under a DA government, the City of Tshwane awarded a R296 million tender to Edwin Sodi.

“This happened despite the venture having no experience in wastewater plant upgrades and insufficient liquidity to set up the site,” he said.

“Numerous bodies, including the Auditor General, have found against the City for the mismanagement of this project.”

“The fact that the DA would campaign on the graves of the residents that their governance failures killed speaks only to the shamelessness of Brink and the DA.”

He added that it was a lie that R777 million was spent on water tankers in the City of Tshwane under the ANC and ActionSA government.

“It has already been proven that R180 million of this figure comprises unpaid invoices from the previous financial year,” he said.

“This money could not be paid because Brink had bankrupted the City of Tshwane to the point it could not pay service providers.”

Beaumont said that water tanker spending has been reduced by 79% after ActionSA mayor Nasiphi Moya pushed for the city to procure its own water tankers.