Gauteng water crisis, Tembisa hospital: How will Lesufi respond?

As Gauteng grapples with a dual crisis of acute water shortages and rampant organised crime within its government institutions, Premier Panyaza Lesufi is facing mounting pressure to outline a robust plan for addressing these urgent issues. The call for accountability has intensified following the alarming revelation that over R2 billion was looted from Tembisa Hospital.

Lesufi is expected to deliver the 2026 State of the Province Address (SOPA) on Monday evening at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg. 

His address takes place as the province faces a severe and escalating water crisis, as residents in various municipalities experienced intermittent supply, with some areas left without water for weeks. 

Opposition parties, particularly the DA, have criticised Lesufi for “empty promises” and failing to address infrastructure priorities identified in previous years.

Organisations such as WaterCan have warned that parts of Johannesburg are effectively living under “Day Zero” conditions due to management and infrastructure failures.

SOPA also comes amid intense criticism against Lesufi regarding a perceived lack of accountability and inaction regarding the looting at the Tembisa Hospital. 

Despite an investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) revealing widespread corruption and the identification of three major syndicates, political opposition and watchdogs have highlighted that few, if any, senior officials have faced criminal charges. 

During the 2025 SOPA, Lesufi identified water infrastructure and corruption as critical priorities for the province. He attributed the crisis to frequent power failures at crucial pumping stations caused by vandalism and electricity issues.

He also reaffirmed a “zero-tolerance” stance on corruption.

Political analyst and governance expert, Sandile Swana, said Lesufi must tell the public his plans on how he will tackle the water crisis, adding that the problem is institutional.

Swana said even if there is water, the infrastructure in many municipalities is in such a bad state that it cannot deliver water.

“People who are employed in the municipalities in terms of the technical departments and infrastructure departments, have not been up to scratch,” said Swana.  

He said in addition, the mayorship in the City of Johannesburg has not been up to standard in terms of quality, adding that the same has also been true in Tshwane until the leadership of Dr Nasiphi Moya. 

“Lesufi has a job to honestly address the public, and his fellow politicians, to talk about the quality of the people that must be appointed in order to make sure that water, sewage, electricity and the basic services in the municipalities are delivered. The quality of human beings at the political level, councillors and at the administrative level and engineering levels, must be up to standard, “ he said, adding that the problem facing the province is institutional failure. 

Swana said Lesufi must also announce what action has been taken against those implicated in the looting of Tembisa Hospital. He said this is because the hospital has been subjected to poor political oversight and the collapse of governance and control systems, which resulted in the “mafia” penetrating the hospital and the policing system, which turned Gauteng into the “mafia state”.

“The resources that are supposed to serve the public are actually being siphoned off by politically aligned organised crime gangs, syndicates and cartels. Lesufi’s job is to simply state how he is going to remove organised crime from the day-to-day operations of the State, so that the decisions of state institutions are separate and apart from those of the mafia,” Swana said. 

Gauteng provincial government spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said Lesufi will address a whole range of issues affecting the province, including the water challenges. 

“The Premier is going to update the public on the measures taken to address the matter. The details will be contained in his speech,” he said.

Another governance expert, Professor Andre Duvenhage, said that Lesufi must tell the public about safety, security and possible action regarding the looting of Tembisa hospital. 

In October 2025, Lesufi suspended the head of the Gauteng Department of Health, Lesiba Arnold Malotana, following revelations of a procurement syndicate at the hospital.

However, he has been criticised for not doing enough to protect whistleblowers or ensure justice for Babita Deokaran (who flagged the R850 million (later R2bn) scandal before her 2021 murder), with opposition parties claiming he allowed implicated officials to remain in their posts, long after her death.

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