The EFF, DA and ActionSA have criticised Minister of Water and Sanitation Pemmy Majodina, following a highly contentious confrontation with a resident in the Eastern Cape.

The incident, which has sparked widespread public outcry, has led to an official ethics complaint laid by the DA and ActionSA, and intensified the political temperature ahead of the November 4 local government elections.

The controversy erupted during a community meeting in the Kouga local municipality, meant to address severe local water shortages.

According to political parties, Majodina unleashed a tirade of profanities and insults at a community member who was questioning or criticising the government's performance.

The EFF stated that Majodina ordered the resident to leave the meeting before proceeding to insult him and his mother, using highly vulgar language.

"To make matters worse, the resident she verbally attacked appeared to be a disabled citizen, who was on crutches while being treated with indignity, disdain, and a lack of respect," the party said in a statement.

The EFF alleged that the Minister’s outbursts formed part of a broader pattern of behaviour within the ANC.

The EFF highlighted recent separate incidents, including controversial remarks by Johannesburg Executive Mayor Dada Morero, who reportedly compared a resident's community engagement input to faeces, and Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe, whom the EFF accused of blackmailing residents with service delivery.

"The attitude of ANC public representatives in community meetings reveals an organisation frustrated with its own electoral decline, and they are now lashing out at the public," the EFF said.

The red berets argued that Majodina did not just insult an individual in Kouga, but effectively insulted millions of South Africans currently enduring water scarcity in areas ranging from Johannesburg and eThekwini to rural Giyani and Ditsobotla.

The EFF called on voters to punish the ruling party's "arrogance" at the ballot box on November 4.

The DA lodged an ethics complaint with Parliament’s Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests, calling for Majodina’s conduct to be investigated and for appropriate sanctions to be imposed by Parliament.

“This behaviour brings the ANC, Parliament and government into disrepute and undermines public confidence in her. Minister Majodina must be held accountable, and she must be sanctioned by the President,” said DA Parliamentary leader George Michalakis.

ActionSA has also lodged an ethics complaint against Majodina with the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests.

ActionSA Member of Parliament Malebo Kobe criticised Majodina’s behaviour as a flagrant breach of Section 5(e) of the Code of Ethical Conduct for Assembly and Council Members.

Kobe argued that the Minister's conduct brings Parliament into disrepute and exemplifies a growing disconnect between the Government of National Unity and the citizens it serves.

"There is simply no place for this kind of behaviour from a Minister of the Republic," Kobe said. "South Africans expect those entrusted with public office to conduct themselves with dignity, restraint, and respect, not to resort to crude insults when confronted with the frustration of ordinary South Africans who rightly criticise the failures of the government."

ActionSA has demanded an immediate, unequivocal public apology from Majodina and has called for swift disciplinary consequences from Parliament.