The Concerned Community Forum (CCF) is raising a serious alarm over the catastrophic failure of infrastructure in Ward 61, which, all too often, leaves residents living in perpetual uncertainty causing anxiety and fear. Each outage, each collapse, each delay erodes dignity, safety, and trust. The question residents now live with is NOT IF services will fail again—BUT WHEN.
In response, the CCF has formally confronted the City through a Memorandum of Demands and a Petition, outlining the full scope of failures, coupled with clear deadlines and enforceable timelines. The community is no longer asking. We are demanding action, accountability, and immediate relief.
This is not inconvenience. It is not misfortune. It is a sustained violation of basic human rights. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa guarantees access to basic services, human dignity, safety, and an environment that is not harmful to health or wellbeing. The persistent instability of electricity and water supply in Ward 61 directly undermines these constitutional rights.
This crisis has been years in the making. Infrastructure designed decades ago to serve approximately 5 000 households is now expected to support a population exceeding 65 000 residents, including formal households and a neighbouring informal settlement. This growth was foreseeable. The failure to upgrade infrastructure accordingly constitutes a serious breach of the City’s constitutional and statutory obligations.
Religious observance requires dignity, not darkness and dry taps.
Particularly concerning is the recurring impact of service failures on religious observance, most notably during the holy month of Ramadan. Electricity and water outages during this period have become a predictable, annual occurrence. Despite this foreseeability, the City has failed to implement targeted preventative or mitigation measures.
Reliable access to electricity and water is essential for dignified religious practice, including early-morning (suhoor) and evening (iftar) meal preparation, lighting, refrigeration, hygiene, and safe household functioning at fixed times. Repeated outages during these periods materially interfere with the free practice of religion and place a disproportionate and systemic burden on Muslim residents. This ongoing failure undermines Section 15 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion, belief, and opinion.
Najma Teladia from the CCF said: “Our community is repeatedly forced to endure water and electricity outages during sacred religious periods.
This is not only disruptive — it is deeply disrespectful. Faith, dignity, and basic human needs are being compromised by ongoing infrastructure failures and a lack of accountability”.
Lushika Mooloo added that “Faith is not a convenience — services must not fail during sacred times. This is not an inconvenience. It is a violation. This is not about personalities or politics. It is about governance.
Bilal Ismail from the CCF said “This is not a request for sympathy or consultation. It is a demand for accountability, and the CCF will keep putting our community first and we will demand accountability The Memorandum of Demand was formally received on behalf of the City by MMC Kholofelo Morodi – Political Head: Region 4, City of Tshwane during a protest organised by the Concerned Community Forum (CCF) on 27 January 2026. While attendance was limited, the protest was highly impactful. Residents who were present engaged directly with MMC Morodi and provided firsthand accounts of their lived experiences, detailing the severe and ongoing consequences of persistent infrastructure failures in Ward 61.
OUR DEMANDS TO THE CITY: TIMEFRAMES, COMPLIANCE, AND RECORDAL
A substantive written response, addressing each matter and setting out proposed remedial actions, is required within five (5) calendar days:
- These include urgent technical stabilisation of the electricity network, funded and time bound infrastructure upgrades, permanent remediation of known failure points, installation of surge protection and fault-detection systems, comprehensive outage audits, structured vegetation management, and safety and crime mitigation measures during outages.
- With regard to water infrastructure, the City is required to commission and integrate the high pressure pipeline necessary to ensure consistent reservoir filling, correct pressure-zoning failures, install real-time monitoring and early-warning systems, and implement a preventative maintenance and asset-management programme to replace reactive crisis response.
- A public engagement meeting with senior City officials authorised to make decisions must take place within fourteen (14) calendar days of receipt of this memorandum.
- Such meeting must include a time-framed action plan setting out specific interventions, implementation timelines, and accountability measures. This time frame is reasonable in light of the ongoing service failures and associated risks.
MMC Kholofelo committed to putting together a task team to address the concerns of Ward 61 and has committed to addressing the residents in our ward in 14 days. In addition, Councilor Prajay Ramjee tabled and presented the petition at the Council meeting on Thursday, 29 January 2026. If City officials are confident in their planning, infrastructure management, and decision making, there should be no fear of direct engagement with residents. The decision to silence community voices instead points to a troubling culture of deflection and political gatekeeping. An innuendo has been troubling our Ward for too long.
The CCF and residents will closely monitor the City’s response. Failure to meet the stipulated timeframes or to take meaningful corrective action will result in further escalation through oversight bodies, regulatory processes, and other lawful avenues available to protect residents’ rights, safety, dignity, and freedom of religious observance.
The CCF is clear:
Unity Undermined While a Community Suffers.
ONE UNITED COMMUNITY – And that unity cannot be silenced, questioned away, or controlled through committees.
To join the Concerned Community Forum, please send your name via WhatsApp to 066 390 0404.