A shocking failure to disinfect drinking water has been linked to a gastrointestinal illness outbreak that has left 408 people sick, most of them children under the age of four, in Bronkhorstspruit, east of Pretoria.
City of Tshwane Executive Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya has acknowledged negligence on the part of her administration, admitting that the municipality ran out of chlorine, a critical chemical used to disinfect drinking water.
“We ran out of chlorine,” Moya said.
The admission comes as a government investigation revealed that water supplied by the Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Works (BWTW) was not chlorinated for nearly three weeks, between 24 September and 14 October 2026, following difficulties with the municipality’s chlorine supplier.
In a joint media briefing on Monday afternoon, 19 October 2026, the Ministries of Health and Water and Sanitation, the Gauteng Provincial Government and the City of Tshwane confirmed that laboratory investigations had linked the outbreak to contaminated municipal water.
The affected communities include Zithobeni, Bronkhorstspruit, Dark City, Rethabiseng and Sokhulumi in Tshwane’s Region 7.
According to the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pemmy Majodina, 408 cases of gastrointestinal illness were recorded between 7 and 18 October, “the highest number of new infections reported on 13 October, when 72 patients sought medical attention,” Majodina said.
Sixteen new cases were recorded on 18 October, while no deaths have been reported.
“Most patients presented with stomach cramps and diarrhoea, with the majority being children younger than four years old,” she added.
Laboratory tests conducted by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) detected Norovirus, Campylobacter and Shigella in three of four stool specimens analysed.
No cholera bacteria were detected in the samples.
Further investigations by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) uncovered extremely high levels of E. coli and total coliform bacteria in water supplied by the Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Works, as well as in the Ekandustria and Zithobeni reservoirs.
In a particularly damning finding, investigators established that the City of Tshwane had failed to warn residents that their water was not being disinfected and was therefore unsafe for household use.
The investigation also found that the treatment plant draws water from the Bronkhorstspruit River, which is heavily polluted by sewage from dysfunctional wastewater treatment facilities under the Victor Khanye Municipality and malfunctioning Tshwane sewage pump stations.
Compounding the crisis, investigators discovered that several components of the treatment plant, including pumps, sand filters and other mechanical equipment, were not functioning properly.
The findings raise serious questions about the municipality’s management of critical water infrastructure and its failure to protect residents from potentially dangerous drinking water.
The City shut down the treatment works on 14 October, with chlorine supplies restored the following day. The plant resumed supplying water into the distribution network on 16 October, although residents were warned that the water remained unsafe for drinking.
The government has since deployed emergency water tankers to affected communities, with the City increasing its fleet to 36 tankers.
The tankers are sourcing water from the Cullinan Water Treatment Works, which authorities say has passed laboratory safety tests.
Meanwhile, Bronkhorstspruit Hospital has established an isolation area and additional beds to accommodate affected patients.
Health authorities have also developed an emergency response plan that allows for the deployment of additional medical personnel and the transfer of patients to Mamelodi Regional Hospital, Tshwane District Hospital and Pretoria West District Hospital if necessary.
The Department of Water and Sanitation has also initiated accountability processes against those responsible for water pollution and failures to comply with water services standards.
An independent investigation by the Water Research Commission is underway, with a report expected by 28 October.
Rand Water is also being brought in to assist with improving the performance of the troubled treatment works.
According to the City, R21 million has been spent on refurbishing and upgrading the facility during the current financial year, with expenditure and planned investments exceeding R107 million over a three-year period.
Despite these financial commitments, authorities have been unable to provide a timeframe for when residents will once again have access to safe drinking water through their taps.
Residents supplied by the Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Works have been warned not to use tap water for drinking, cooking, bathing, brushing teeth, washing food or washing clothes.
“The water should only be used for flushing toilets and that boiling it does not make it safe for the prohibited uses,” Majodina said.
Residents have also been urged to discard previously stored water, disinfect storage containers and seek immediate medical attention if they experience symptoms of gastrointestinal illness.