The Tshwane Metro’s ongoing failure to replace ageing water infrastructure in Region 4 (Lyttelton and Lyttelton Manor) is directly endangering residents’ lives.
According to the Metro’s own disaster risk management report for 2024/25, 63 sinkholes formed across the Metro, with 88% of these not caused by natural phenomena but by water leaks in old pipes.
The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) expressed during Thursday’s council meeting that water pressure in the area has decreased by more than half.
This increases the risk of further subsidence and sinkholes. The Metro’s only solution is temporary water tankers; so taxpayers keep paying for superficial solutions while the root cause remains unresolved.
In addition, the Freedom Front Plus’s petition – with nearly 3 500 signatures, submitted in September 2025 and calling for a local state of disaster in Region 4 – has been lost in the Metro’s bureaucracy. It never reached the Petitions Committee.
The Freedom Front Plus insists that the Metro:
• prioritise, identify and replace ageing asbestos pipes in dolomitic areas;
• redirect funds from water tanker services to permanent infrastructure repair;
• establish a rapid, specialised leak-response unit; and
• acknowledge the lost petition and declare a local state of disaster in Region 4 to unlock provincial resources.
Lyttelton residents deserve better than living under life-threatening circumstances.
The Freedom Front Plus will keep pressuring the Metro to fulfil its responsibilities and prioritise communities’ safety.
