UPPA Tshwane

04/09/2026

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." — Anaïs Nin

Vote UPPA

04/09/2026

MEDIA STATEMENT

RESIDENTS CANNOT DRINK A 2050 VISION, THEY NEED WATER TODAY

04 September 2026
For Immediate Release

The United Progressive People Alliance (UPPA) in Tshwane calls on the City of Tshwane Municipality to stop drawing castles in the air and deliver real services to our people. Tshwane residents cannot be expected to celebrate tomorrow while they are suffering today.
While The City is proudly promoting its proposed Water Security Vision 2050, developed in partnership with the Danish Embassy, the City of Aarhus and Aarhus Vand, residents of Tshwane continue to go for days without clean, potable water.

While The City has these grand plans of the future, one question remains What about the residents who do not have reliable water today?

A resident in Hammanskraal, Soshanguve, Ekangala, Mamelodi, Garankuwa or any other community experiencing prolonged water interruptions cannot drink a policy document. They cannot cook with a vision. They cannot flush toilets with a 2050 strategy.

They need water from their taps today.

UPPA welcomes long-term planning, but we reject the political arrogance of presenting a 25-year vision as though it is an achievement when communities are still battling basic water failures.

The City itself acknowledges that its water challenges include water lost through leaks, theft, metering inaccuracies and illegal connections.

This raises a fundamental question: if these problems are known, why are residents still being forced to carry the consequences?
Residents should not have to wait until 2050 for a water-secure Tshwane.

UPPA believes Tshwane needs a Water Emergency Action Plan, not merely another long-term vision.

The City must immediately publish:

A ward-by-ward assessment of water infrastructure and supply failures;

The number of households currently affected by unreliable water;

A clear programme for repairing major leaks and failing infrastructure;

The extent and financial cost of non-revenue water;

A transparent plan to deal with illegal connections and water theft;

A timetable for upgrading ageing water infrastructure;
Emergency water measures for communities experiencing prolonged interruptions; and
Monthly public progress reports so residents can hold the municipality accountable.

The people of Tshwane deserve to know where their water is going, how much is being lost, who is responsible and when their problems will be fixed.

For years, residents have been subjected to promises, plans, task teams, consultations and strategies.

UPPA is particularly concerned that the City’s language around water security risks becoming another political exercise in which residents are invited to participate in consultations while the municipality avoids confronting the immediate failures of service delivery.

There is nothing wrong with looking towards 2050.

But responsible government must simultaneously deal with the next 24 hours, the next seven days, the next month and the next year.

A government that cannot guarantee basic services today cannot hide behind a glossy vision for 2050.

UPPA will not accept a Tshwane where some residents have uninterrupted water while others are expected to survive through JoJo tanks, water trucks and emergency interventions.

Water is not a luxury.

It is not a campaign promise.
It is not a public-relations opportunity.

It is a basic service and a fundamental necessity of human dignity.

Tshwane needs leadership that fixes broken infrastructure, protects the water system, improves revenue collection, eliminates waste and corruption, and takes responsibility when things go wrong.
The City must stop telling residents about 2050 while failing to adequately answer for 2026.

UPPA’s commitment is simple: FIX THE WATER. FIX THE CITY. FIX THE SYSTEM.

We will continue to put residents first and demand measurable, transparent and immediate action from the City of Tshwane.

The people of Tshwane cannot wait 24 years for a tap that should be working today.

Issued by:

United Progressive People Alliance (UPPA)
Communications

ENDS

Media enquiries
Abel Tau
Tshwane Mayoral Candidate and Campaign spokesperson
071 265 5040

03/09/2026

“We can work together for a better world with men and women of goodwill, those who radiate the intrinsic goodness of humankind." - Wangari Matthau

02/09/2026

A well run Tshwane can deliver services to ALL residents. Take back your City. Vote UPPA

01/09/2026

Postering team is ready to hit the ground

30/08/2026

We are out in Hammanskraal today, spreading the message of UPPA
❤️💚🖤💛

30/08/2026

MEDIA STATEMENT
AFTER ALMOST TWO WEEKS WITHOUT WATER, ANC PRESIDENT’S VISIT “MIRACULOUSLY” BRINGS WATER BACK TO HAMMANSKRAAL

30 August 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The United Progressive People Alliance (UPPA) is deeply concerned about the manner in which the ongoing water crisis in Hammanskraal has been handled, after residents endured almost two weeks without a reliable water supply.

What makes the situation even more concerning is that water has reportedly returned to parts of Hammanskraal coinciding with the visit of the President of the African National Congress (ANC).
For nearly two weeks, residents have been forced to endure the indignity of living without one of the most basic necessities of life. Families have struggled to cook, clean, wash and maintain basic hygiene, while elderly residents, children, schools and businesses have carried the burden of the crisis.

Yet, when a high-profile political visit takes place, the water supply suddenly appears to return.

Hammanskraal residents deserve better than political miracles. They deserve a functioning government every single day.

UPPA believes that access to clean, reliable water is not a privilege that should depend on the arrival of a political leader. It is a constitutional and basic service obligation that must be delivered consistently, regardless of whether cameras, politicians or elections are present.
The timing raises serious questions that the City of Tshwane and the relevant authorities must answer:

Why were residents left without water for almost two weeks?
What intervention was made to restore the supply?
Why did it take the intervention or presence of a senior political leader for action to be taken?
What measures are being implemented to ensure that residents are not subjected to another prolonged water outage?
How much emergency expenditure was incurred to restore the water supply?

UPPA calls on the City of Tshwane to provide residents with a full and transparent explanation of the causes of the water crisis and the steps being taken to prevent a recurrence.

This is precisely why UPPA has made reliable basic services one of the central pillars of its programme to rebuild Tshwane.

Hammanskraal cannot continue to be treated as a political football. Its residents are taxpayers, voters and citizens who deserve dignity, clean water and responsive government.

We welcome the restoration of the water supply, but we reject the idea that residents should have to wait for a political visit before government does its job.
UPPA will continue to demand water, accountability and competent local government for Hammanskraal and every community across Tshwane.

A well-run Tshwane must deliver services to ALL residents, every day, not only when politicians arrive.

Issued by:
United Progressive People Alliance (UPPA)
Communications

Media enquiries
Abel Tau
Tshwane Mayoral Candidate and Campaign spokesperson
071 265 5040

28/08/2026

MEDIA STATEMENT

UPPA MEETS IEC DEADLINE FOR COUNCILLOR NOMINATIONS AND NOW GOES INTO FULL CAMPAIGN MODE

28 August 2026
For Immediate release

The United Progressive People Alliance (UPPA) is pleased to announce that the party has successfully met the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) deadline for the submission of its councillor nominations for the upcoming Local Government Elections.

This achievement marks an important milestone for UPPA and demonstrates the party’s commitment to participating meaningfully in the democratic process and offering South Africans a credible alternative at local government level.

Following the successful completion of the nomination process, UPPA is now officially going into full campaign mode.

Our candidates, activists, volunteers and campaign teams across the country are being mobilised to take the UPPA message directly to communities. The focus will now shift decisively towards door-to-door campaigns, community engagements, voter mobilisation, public meetings, service-delivery campaigns and intensive grassroots organising.

UPPA entered this election with a clear mission: to build municipalities that work for ordinary residents. We are contesting for power in Tshwane, Capricorn, Polokwane, Molemole, Lepelle-Nkumpi, Nelson Mandela Bay and Knysna.

South Africans are tired of municipalities characterised by poor service delivery, dysfunctional administration, corruption, unreliable billing systems, failing infrastructure and a lack of accountability.
UPPA believes that the local government must return to its fundamental purpose, serving the people.

Our councillor candidates have been selected to become active representatives of their communities, not career politicians who disappear after elections.

We are therefore challenging every UPPA candidate to remain visible, accessible and accountable to residents before, during and after the election.

The next phase of our campaign will be about listening to communities and understanding their daily struggles.

Our teams will be engaging residents on issues including:
Water and sanitation;
Electricity and reliable municipal services;
Roads and infrastructure;
Housing and informal settlements;
Waste management and clean communities;
Safety and public lighting;
Jobs and local economic development;
Municipal billing and revenue collection; and
Accountable and corruption-free local government.

UPPA will not simply tell communities what we intend to do. We will listen to them, document their challenges and take their concerns into our municipal governance programme.

UPPA’s campaign is guided by our commitment to Build, Fix and Heal our communities.
We want to build municipalities that create opportunities, fix those systems that are failing residents and heal communities that have been neglected for far too long.

The election is no longer just about political parties. It is about the future of our communities and whether residents will continue accepting the same failures or choose a new direction.

UPPA is ready.
Our candidates are ready.
Our activists are ready.
The campaign starts now.

We call on residents across the municipalities where UPPA is contesting to engage with our candidates, attend our community meetings and join us in building a new political future.

UPPA has met the deadline. Now we take the campaign to the people.

ENDS

Issued by:
Office of the Federal General Secretary
United Progressive People Alliance (UPPA)

Media enquiries
Abel Tau
Campaign spokesperson
071 265 5040

26/08/2026