Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding Monday's incident in which 38-year-old Celani Zungu was fatally run over by an eThekwini municipal water tanker during a dispute over water distribution. The Water Research Commission said water tankers should be used as a short-term emergency intervention, not as a permanent means of supplying communities. It also cautioned that prolonged dependence on water tankers carries public health risks, saying water quality and storage are not always consistently monitored and managed. The Commission said municipalities should focus on repairing and maintaining water infrastructure rather than spending public funds on repeated emergency water deliveries. The Water Research Commission called for municipalities to professionalise water service delivery, ringfence budgets for water infrastructure, improve revenue collection and root out corruption.