Lesufi’s hotel shower comment sparks Gauteng fury

2026-02-13 - 05:26

Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi may have apologised for saying Johannesburg residents could go to a hotel to bath as he and others do to cope with the ongoing water crisis, but political experts believe the damage has been done. What was meant as an innocent reassurance has instead backfired spectacularly, becoming a symbol of disconnect and a politically costly one at a time when dry taps are fuelling deep public frustration. “The damage is done, unfortunately. What is done will not be undone,” political analyst Ntsikelelo Breakfast, said. ‘The damage is done’ – hotel shower comment “Some things must be avoided...as a senior politician, talking like that to people who have not had water in weeks is not a joke. “Leadership is not only about power, is also about being responsible.” ALSO READ: ANC welcomes Lesufi’s apology over ‘hotel bath’ comments amid water crisis He said the ANC was already facing a backlash with corruption, service delivery failures, collapsed municipalities and high unemployment, as well as rampant crime, and Lesufi should have known better. In an attempt to stress that leaders were not insulated from the crisis, Lesufi said he and his family also experience water cuts and that in some instances he has gone to a hotel to wash before attending official commitments. “People think that when there is no water, we and our families, we have special water, we don’t. Leaders ‘suffer same pain’ – Lesufi “We also go through the same. In some instances, I had to go to a certain hotel so that I could bathe and go to my commitments,” Lesufi said in a recent media briefing on the Gauteng water crisis on Wednesday. He added that leaders “suffer the same pain” as residents and insisted that the problem was “almost fixed”. ALSO READ: DA blames Lesufi for taps running dry but has party member serving as deputy water minister But for many residents queueing at communal taps, filling buckets from water tankers, or enduring days without supply, the image of a premier retreating to a hotel shower struck a raw nerve. A political analyst, Gakwi Mashego, believes the damage reflects a deeper reality in the governing party. “The ANC does not have the numbers any more. They are no longer the majority party in Gauteng and the party has been rejected at national level. So, I do not think they care much about being able to ever govern again... they can do as they please. They have reached that space,” he said. Water crisis about management Mashego argues that the water crisis is not about scarcity, but management, and that Gauteng does not lack water in absolute terms. He said the problem lies in governance failures of deteriorating river systems, inadequate infrastructure investment and slow responses to a rapidly growing urban population. ALSO READ: Lesufi apologises for ‘bath at a hotel’ remark amid Joburg water crisis – [VIDEO] “This does not start at the water utilities but at water and environmental affairs. Rivers have been allowed to deteriorate to the point that the water there cannot be used for anything. “This is about management of water resources and building infrastructure that will respond quickly to population growth,” Mashego said. Theo Neethling, head of the University of the Free State’s department of political studies and governance, said: “In a context where many Johannesburg and Gauteng residents experience prolonged water outages, queue at communal taps, or rely on buckets and tanks, a premier remarking that he can simply go to a hotel to shower highlights structural inequality.” Leadership during crisis requires empathy and accountability He said that political leadership during a service delivery crisis requires empathy and accountability. Statements that appear casual or self-referential risk shifting the focus away from institutional responsibility onto personal coping mechanisms. ALSO READ: Gauteng spends R22m on sound systems and stages, but service delivery remains a challenge “When leaders are perceived to have coping mechanisms that shield them from the consequences of governance failures, it reinforces the idea that political elites do not experience the same costs as ordinary citizens. This perception feeds cynicism and disengagement,” Neethling said. That perception may prove decisive because Gauteng is South Africa’s economic engine and one of its most politically contested provinces.