Lesufi’s apology for hotel bath gaffe ‘does not hold water’

Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi has been sharply criticised by opposition parties for his insensitive remark about booking into a hotel to bath when he has no water at home.

While responding to an angry crowd during a visit by government officials to a reservoir in Brixton, Johannesburg, on Wednesday night, Lesufi said he was also affected and inconvenienced by the water outages.

“I also experience water shortages and in certain instances I had to go to a certain hotel so that I could bathe and go to my commitments.

“People think that if there is no water, then ourselves and our families get special water. We don’t ... we also go through the same inconveniences like any other person.

“There is no special water or pipe designed to serve other people. Our families, our relatives, our constituencies suffer the same pain," Lesufi said.

Lesufi issued an apology through his spokesperson Sizwe Pamla, who said the premier’s comment on the “hotel bath” may have been interpreted in a manner that was based on societal class.

However, opposition parties have rejected Lesufi’s apology, saying it fails to address the daily hardship faced by communities in Johannesburg.

The EFF in Gauteng called Lesufi “aloof” and accused him of attempting to manufacture sympathy while residents suffered.

“In a desperate attempt to manufacture sympathy, the premier suggested that he resorts to hotels to take a bath as a result of ongoing water outages,” the EFF said.

The party argued that Lesufi’s apology was nothing more than a public relations stunt.

“It is nothing more than a public relations stunt by a politician caught out of touch with the lived realities of the people,” the EFF said.

The EFF added that it planned to formally enquire in the legislature about the extent of state resources spent on oversight activities, particularly during the water crisis.

Councillor for the African Christian Democratic Party in Ekurhuleni, Palesa Yates, said Lesufi’s comment did not reflect an understanding of what communities are going through.

“His comment that he has to go to a hotel to bath sometimes showed a knee-jerk lack of understanding about the problems of residents struggling with water outages,” Yates said.

“The premier’s apology does not hold water,” Yates said.

This criticism comes after residents of Nigel in Ekurhuleni started a protest, having suffered days without water.

Yates said some residents had endured recurring outages for years.

“It is a struggle to wash clothes, bath babies, care for those with disability and maintain hygiene,” she said.

Yates added that in other parts of Ekurhuleni, including at small businesses and old-age homes, people have had to buy water.

“The premier should apologise for not overseeing proper maintenance of water infrastructure in the metro, which is the logistics hub of his province,” Yates added.

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