• Officials reported 833 stomach illness cases by 26 October, including 328 children under four, with three patients still in hospital.

• A parliamentary committee wants wider accountability, while Tshwane has suspended the plant manager and ordered an independent investigation.

Tshwane is under pressure to explain how contaminated tap water left hundreds of people ill, and why residents were not warned sooner.

Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation says the city cannot simply blame the suspended manager of the Bronkhorstspruit water treatment plant.

Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina said on 26 October that 833 cases of stomach illness had been recorded. Three patients were still in hospital at the time.

SABC News reported that 328 of those affected were children under four. No deaths had been reported.

The earlier government tally was 408 cases recorded between 7 and 18 October.

An investigation by the Department of Water and Sanitation found that water from the Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Works was not chlorinated between 24 September and 14 October.

The department also found that Tshwane failed to warn residents that the water was unsafe. Tests detected extremely high levels of E. coli bacteria in water from the plant and two reservoirs.

Committee chairperson Leon Basson told eNCA that the problems appeared to extend beyond one plant.

“It seems that this problem in Bronkhorstspruit is not isolated. There are other problems with other purification plants in Tshwane,” he said.

Basson said the municipality must also take responsibility.

Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya said in a statement on 27 October that Rand Water and city teams had finished cleaning the larger reservoir at the Bronkhorstspruit treatment plant.

Work on the smaller reservoir was continuing, with extra equipment needed to remove the remaining sludge.

Preparations for the filtration system were about 90% complete. A generator had also been connected at the water extraction point while electrical work continued.

The teams aimed to finish cleaning on 28 October so that further testing, chlorination and flushing could begin.

Emergency water deliveries suffered another setback when the city suspended tanker collections from a Cullinan hydrant after detecting unusually cloudy water.

Moya said the city was working with Magalies Water and awaiting further test results before collections could safely resume. Alternative filling points were being sought.

TimesLIVE separately reported that Moya said two tankers had been withdrawn and their loads discarded before the water reached residents.

Private tanker operators must have their water tested by the city’s environmental health officials and obtain municipal approval before distributing it.

Rand Water was also helping test boreholes in Regions five and seven to establish whether they could provide safe drinking water.