With much-needed Rand Water maintenance underway on critical infrastructure supplying Johannesburg, WaterCAN is raising concern that the City of Johannesburg and Johannesburg Water systems are not coping with the knock-on impacts. While the maintenance itself is necessary, inadequate planning and poor communication by the city have left residents vulnerable to prolonged water outages.
This follows several days without water - without notice - in multiple suburbs reliant on the Hursthill 1 and 2 reservoirs, after the bulk supplier Rand Water carried out scheduled maintenance on the network.
WaterCAN, a non-profit civil society organisation that campaigns for water justice across the country, has described the latest uproar over the outages as avoidable had the matter been clearly communicated in advance.
“Despite every effort by communities, councillors and civil society to streamline coordination and prevent confusion - including the establishment of dedicated WhatsApp groups that include all relevant City and Johannesburg Water role-players - there has been near radio silence on the latest outages beyond vague comments,” said WaterCAN Executive Director Dr Ferrial Adam.
Adam said that, following pressure from councillors and civil society on 15 December, Johannesburg Water noted there were communication short-comings and has indicated it will now take a more proactive approach and anticipate potential issues ahead of another round of Rand Water maintenance expected on 19 December—which will likely again affect communities that rely on the Hursthill 1 and 2 feed.
Neighbourhoods that rely on these reservoirs include Melville, Emmarentia, Richmond, Greenside, Westdene, Westcliff, Auckland Park, Parktown West, Claremont, Coronation and Westbury, among other areas.
Adam said that as families prepare for year-end festivities, many residents are “deeply worried that they may be left without water during the holiday period”.
“Residents cannot plan, prepare, or protect basic household hygiene and safety if the responsible authorities will not provide clear, factual information,” said Adam.
According to a notice issued by Johannesburg Water on 15 December, the current supply constraints are the result of planned maintenance and the need to balance water supply to keep the system stable during the broader maintenance.
The Johannesburg Water notice issued just before 8am on 15 December can be found here.
Adam said this was not communicated at the beginning of the maintenance process and should have been pre-empted.
“It is a concern that Johannesburg Water did not pick up on the interconnectivity of the system - and thus the impact on the Commando system.
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