Residents on Edge Amid Looming 48 Hour Joburg Water Supply Outage

• Existing water challenges and a looming 48-hour outage across parts of Joburg have residents hot under the collar
• Johannesburg Executive Mayor Dada Morero shared on his X page several system updates provided by Joburg Water
• Morero said Joburg Water teams were working to address some issues, sparking angry retorts from water users

JOHANNESBURG — Taps will dry in numerous suburbs across Johannesburg amid planned water disruptions from Tuesday, 12 November 2024.

Joburg Water said it was shutting off the taps to conduct essential maintenance work, affecting consumers in Soweto and other suburbs.

48-hour water outage looms

The entity further noted that the outage was due to retrofitting the main pressure-reducing valve (PRV) chamber and supplying water to the Meadowlands Reservoir and Tower.

In the meantime, water tankers will be deployed to the affected areas to provide temporary relief. Joburg Water provided several system updates, which Johannesburg Executive Mayor Dada Morero shared on his X page.

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The updates noted zero, low and high supply across the city as of 7 November in the commando, Soweto, Midrand and Lenasia systems.

"Our team communicated [throughout] the day yesterday, including holding meetings with councillors [from] affected [areas] on Teams to give feedback on the status of recovery plans.

"All councillors' WhatsApp groups are updated regularly on the placement of tankers across the regions [and] our team is working around the clock to mitigate this challenge," said Morero.

Residents lament water challenges

Amid the looming water supply challenges, residents flooded social media with their reactions, lamenting existing and upcoming outages.

Briefly News looks at the reactions.

@MichelleGebha13 wrote:

"Why are there no tankers in Ward 132 Vorna Valley? The communication s*cks, with no real answers or ETA's [of] when we will have water back."

@Sanush28 said:

"@MYANC, this is what you have reduced COJ to! Lesufi and Morero were forced upon residents! Unacceptable."

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@blairbird added:

"Feedback, my foot!!! Ineptitude and incompetence [are] all we get."

@Michael10297629 noted:

"All points to the constant incompetence of the leadership of Joburg. Whilst residents suffer, you and your team are travelling the world or doing photo ops."

@Malume4life offered:

"That's what we want to hear, Mayor. Feedback from CoJ, thank you."

A looming major water crisis

In related news, Briefly News reported that ageing infrastructure, a lack of freshwater resources and systems maintenance, mismanagement, and climate change have affected SA's water supply.

But how bad is the situation, and is the country nearing Day Zero?

Speaking exclusively to Briefly News, Kate Stubbs, the marketing director at Interwaste, broke down the threat the country faces.

Source: Briefly News