Zille blasts Majodina over Ethiopia trip amid Joburg water crisis

DA Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille has criticised water and sanitation minister Pemmy Majodina for travelling to Ethiopia to attend the 39th AU Summit while Johannesburg remains in the grips of a severe water crisis.

The summit, held on Saturday in Addis Ababa, focused on placing water and sanitation at the heart of Africa’s development agenda. Majodina attended as part of the South African delegation under the theme: “Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063.”

During the event, Majodina was seen singing the “water song” from the podium, saying, “This is an internal song for water when we say clouds are gathering.”

The minister’s international trip comes at a time when many Johannesburg residents have gone weeks without running water.

Last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa instructed Majodina and Cogta minister Velenkosini Hlabisa to skip the state of the nation address (Sona) to focus on resolving the city’s water supply issues.

Taking to X, Zille questioned the timing and necessity of the trip.

“You can’t make this up,” Zille said. “Are we going to import water from Ethiopia? Or what? The president told you to consult with water-starved communities in SA, not to jet off elsewhere.”

In a follow-up post responding to those who defended Majodina, Zille added: “The president told her to deal with the Joburg crisis.”

Zille argued that the crisis is a matter of mismanagement rather than a lack of resources. She pointed out that Gauteng has had significant rainfall and that dams are overflowing. “It is just that the ANC-led coalition government cannot get the water to the people.”

Last week, Zille joined water protests in Johannesburg. In a viral social media post designed to highlight the severity of infrastructure neglect, she was pictured sitting in a “lake” created by a massive pipe burst in Linbro Park.

The DA has announced it will take the City of Johannesburg and Johannesburg Water to court to compel them to restore a stable supply.

At a media briefing last week, Majodina said the department needs at least R400bn to repair ageing water infrastructure.

She said the government needed to consolidate its findings before committing to specific figures or actions. “We must not thumb-suck about the challenges and the amount that is needed,” Majodina said.

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