Cecilia Moloantoa: The One Woman Who Challenged Mmakau’s Water Crisis

Photo Credit: Supplied by Judy Stockhill

After being forced to go without water for years, Cecilia Moloantoa is the woman who stood up to bring change, rainwater harvesting and fresh hope to the village of Mmakau.

Mmakau, South Africa (24 March 2026) – Water shortages are a frequent occurrence in our country, an inconvenience that is, for the most part, a true struggle. However, in some areas, residents go without water for weeks or survive on a limited supply for months. In the village of Mmakau, north-west of Pretoria, there is no water at the taps at all, and there hasn’t been for years.

Mmakau’s Water Warrior

It is here that the Bryanston Catholic Church-supported ‘Rainwater Harvesting and Vegetable Growing’ project operates. The initiative is the brainchild of retired Catholic nurse, Cecilia Moloantoa, who chose to spend the Covid-19 lockdown in her home village of Mmakau rather than in Blairgowrie, where she had been living.

During the outbreak, when all South Africans were repeatedly told to “wash your hands!”, it was Cecilia who had the courage to ask: “With what?” – and the resolve to take a stand and do something about it.

Mmakau is a peri-urban district of Tshwane. The village was a rural mission station northwest of Pretoria towards De Wildt, then zoned as Ga-Rankuwa township, before being incorporated into Bophuthatswana. Later, it fell into North West Province and is now under the Madibeng Local Council and the traditional chiefdom of the Bakgatla-ba-Mmakau.

Like countless other villages with a similar political past, infrastructure has been criminally neglected, and service delivery is almost non-existent.

Water in Mmakau has been delivered to municipal tanks, often empty, and to private homes at a cost by the ‘water mafia’.

However, since 2019, this water crisis has turned into a harvest of hope. The ‘Rain Water Harvesting and Vegetable Growing’ project, which provides residents of Mmakau with tanks to harvest rain water, has supplied 16 Jojo tanks, guttering, building supplies for tank stands, piping and plumbing necessities for a self-help reticulation system, and a refurbished borehole decommissioned.

With the improved availability of water, people are also encouraged to grow their own vegetable gardens in their homes, thus ensuring food security for their families.

Photo Credit: Supplied by Judy Stockhill

At present, the parish supports the ‘Rain Water Harvesting and Vegetable Growing’ project with a monthly contribution for water and in spring and autumn, vegetable seeds are sponsored by SAKATA Seeds.

Right now, the dry and impoverished Kizito community of Mmakau are planning to install a 10,000 litre tank, unceremoniously delivered by the municipality at the demand of Cecilia.

Can You Help Keep the Water Flowing?

J&P in Bryanston has paid for the materials for concrete for the tank stand; the community will pay for its transport to the site and provide the bricks. However, funding is still needed for the plumbing necessities.

For more information or to support a cause that will help provide water for the Kizito community, contact Judy Stockhill of the Bryanston Catholic Church Commission for Justice and Peace at judy@stockill.co.za