Patients and healthcare workers at Jubilee District Hospital in Gauteng say they are being forced to buy drinking water from an outside tuckshop as the facility continues to struggle with unreliable and unsafe tap water — even during periods of extreme heat.
Visitors arriving desperate for hydration are reportedly directed away from empty dispensers toward paid bottled water before receiving treatment. Staff members routinely carry large containers to endure their shifts, while many low-income patients rely on tanker-supplied external storage tanks that are primarily intended for flushing toilets rather than drinking.
A concerned mother whose child is admitted at the hospital said families now fear that using tap water could worsen illnesses, compelling them to bring their own supplies to the facility.
Jubilee District Hospital, which has 551 beds and handles more than 30,000 emergency cases annually from Gauteng, Limpopo, and North West, has faced repeated water outages. Some shortages reportedly lasted up to three weeks in November 2025, drawing disturbing parallels to the 2023 cholera outbreak that exposed widespread sanitation failures.
The Gauteng Department of Health has blamed the crisis on municipal infrastructure failures linked to dam and treatment plant breakdowns under the City of Tshwane’s control. According to the department, mitigation efforts include water tankers, backup storage systems, ongoing water quality testing, hand sanitisers, and sterile water for medical procedures.
Officials insist that no surgeries or admissions have been delayed. However, the continued need for patients and staff to purchase their own drinking water highlights the persistent indignity and health risks faced by some of the province’s most vulnerable citizens.