By Johnathan Paoli
Police are investigating a case of culpable homicide following the death of Celani Zungu, who was run over by an eThekwini municipal water tanker in Adams Mission, south of Durban, on Sunday.
The incident was captured on video and footage has since circulated widely on social media.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda confirmed that investigators had taken a statement from the driver of the municipal truck. No arrests have been made.
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“As per procedure, our investigators met with the driver of the truck, we took his statement, we are continuing with taking statements from witnesses. We believe that our investigators will reveal what was the cause of the accident or what could have led to the incident,” Netshiunda said.
He said that investigators would not rely solely on videos of the incident circulating on social media.
“We don’t want to take what we see on the video from face value. We have got to test the evidence to uncover the truth behind any visual that we see. Those who were around could tell us what led to that incident, because what we’re seeing is a clip. We don’t know where it started, how it started, who was behind it,” he said.
Netshiunda said the driver was cooperating with investigators.
He said the direction of the investigation could change if further evidence warranted it.
“If we find that there were elements of negligence or there were elements of intention to kill, then the case might change from culpable homicide. For now, we are investigating a case of culpable homicide,” he said.
According to residents, the incident unfolded after community members confronted the driver of a municipal water tanker that had allegedly arrived to deliver water to only one household while the surrounding community had gone without water for several days.
Residents alleged that when the tanker attempted to leave, community members tried to stop it because they believed everyone should receive water.
During the confrontation, the truck allegedly drove off and struck Zungu, who died at the scene.
Zungu’s brother, Sakhile Zungu, said the family remained deeply traumatised by the incident and by videos of his brother’s death that had spread across social media platforms.
Despite their grief, he said the family wanted justice to be pursued through the legal system rather than through acts of retaliation.
The family has appealed for the law to take its course while police complete their investigation.
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The incident has renewed allegations from residents that some municipal water tanker drivers have been selling water intended to be distributed free of charge to communities.
Ward 96 councillor Thembelihle Makhanya, speaking to EWN, said he was aware of the allegations but that no concrete evidence had been presented to him to enable action against those responsible.
“People are raising this, that there are people who are selling water, which is water that is supposed to be free to the community. You can’t deal with the person who is doing that wrongdoing without having proper evidence. It now remains a speculation because there is nothing that ever came to me as evidence,” he said.
Makhanya nevertheless said he opposed any abuse of water meant for residents.
Although no evidence has been made public linking the tanker involved in Zungu’s death to the alleged sale of water, GroundUp reported in 2024 that it had observed tanker drivers selling municipal water in Adams Mission. At the time, the municipality said water supplied through its emergency tanker service was not for sale.
eThekwini Municipality has launched an internal investigation into Zungu’s death.
Mayor Cyril Xaba and Speaker of Council Thabani Nyawose visited the Zungu family on Monday.
“We were deeply saddened to learn of this tragic incident. We appeal for calm and urge the community to allow the South African Police Service to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter,” Xaba said.
The mayor also assured the family that municipal officials, together with the local ward councillor, would provide support during the bereavement period.
The municipality said Adams Mission was one of several rural communities dependent on water tankers because water demand exceeded available supply, while major infrastructure projects intended to improve long-term water security remained under construction.
Civil society organisation WaterCAN called for an urgent, transparent and independent investigation into the incident, saying the death underscored the consequences of prolonged failures in water service delivery.
The organisation said emergency tanker deliveries should never become the norm and urged the police and municipality to establish accountability while ensuring residents received reliable access to water through functioning infrastructure.
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