Our Burning Planet

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Coronationville residents take to the streets, fed up by persistent Johannesburg water outages

You won't find a house in Coronatioville that doesn’t have bathtub full of water — residents have to wake up at 2am, when the water comes on, to fill their bathtubs to store water for flushing toilets, washing their clothes and dishes and filling buckets to bath in later after the water goes off at 4am. (Photo: Julia Evans)

By Julia Evans

16 Oct 2024

Coronationville residents are sick of waking up in the dead of night to collect dwindling water supplies. As Johannesburg Water struggles with crumbling infrastructure, the community wants urgent action to restore their basic right to water.

Two years ago, almost to the day, Daily Maverick reported on the dire water crisis in Coronationville. On 17 October 2022, resident Andrea Fisher shared how she set her alarm for 1am daily to check if there was water for her to bathe.

On 16 October 2024, it feels as if nothing has changed. Residents say the water is switched on in the early hours of the morning, between 2am and 4am, forcing families to wake in the dead of night to fill buckets, wash clothes and prepare for the day ahead.

coronationville water protest Residents of Coronationville took to the streets on 16 October 2024, stopping traffic at major intersections in protest against ongoing water outages. (Photo: Julia Evans)

Residents of Coronationville protest against water outages on 16 October 2024. (Photo: Julia Evans)

coronationville protest police Police monitor protests after Coronationville residents blocked intersections and stopped traffic in a protest against water outages. (Photo: Julia Evans)

Frustration reached boiling point on Wednesday morning. Ferial Haffajee reported for Daily Maverick that community of Coronationville took to the streets, stopping traffic and setting fires to protest against ongoing water outages.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Daily water cuts spark outrage: Johannesburg residents demand urgent action amid infrastructure collapse

A failing system

Coronationville is part of Johannesburg Water’s Commando System, which includes the Hursthill, Crosby and Brixton reservoirs.

As Haffejee reported, the ageing water system is so degraded that it deprives hundreds of thousands of residents of their constitutional right to water. Joburg Water has acknowledged that emergency fixes to the system would cost between R1-billion and R3-billion, but the council is not funding these because its budgets hit record deficits.

On Wednesday night, Joburg Water announced that teams would begin reconfiguring the Crosby Pump Station to boost supply in the Commando System.

The work, scheduled to take place from 6pm on Wednesday until 2am on Friday, 18 October, involves installing a valve at the pump station as part of phase one of a larger project aimed at improving supply across the system.

The plan includes two new infrastructure projects designed to increase water storage capacity for the Brixton, Crosby and Hursthill complexes, and to better serve feeder zones.

Affected areas include Hursthill, Crosby, Rossmore, Vrededorp, Vredepark, Bosmont, Croesus, and several other surrounding neighbourhoods.

Tough on the elderly and children

Yolanda van Rensburg, 74, has to keep her kitchen stocked with water bottles as the taps in Coronationville work only from 2am to 4am. (Photo: Julia Evans)

Yolanda van Rensburg, 74, has to keep her kitchen stocked with water bottles as the taps in Coronationville work only between 2am to 4am. (Photo: Julia Evans)

Coronationville residents have to wake up at 2am, when the water comes on, to fill their bathtubs to store water for flushing toilets, washing their clothes and dishes and filling buckets to bath after the water goes off at 4am. (Photo: Julia Evans)

“I have five children. I have one grandchild. I live with my mother who is elderly,” Carmen van Heerden told Daily Maverick as she stood in the middle of a blocked-off intersection, with thick black smoke drifting from burning tyres behind her.

“This is my son,” she said, gesturing at her 13-year-old on the blocked-off road. “He’s not going to school because the schools are coming out early. Our children’s education is suffering.”

Van Heerden’s neighbour said that her children were sent home from school at 10am on Monday, and school was cancelled on Tuesday due to the water cuts.

Vanessa Ricketts, who has lived in Coronationville since she was four years old, echoed these frustrations: “You can’t even get a proper bath or shower. I have to take my laundry to my son’s place.”

coronationville water protests Proportional representative councillor Mellisa Davids (centre) addresses residents about the ongoing water outages following a protest on 16 October 2024. (Photo: Julia Evans)

“It makes me feel angry, man, because water is a basic need, and yet we have to pay for this water that we don’t have,” she said, explaining that water bills remained the same, if not higher, despite water outages.

Julie Fahmay, living in an old-age village, said that she and her neighbours had to collect water from tankers as their taps ran dry. “At our age, we should have access to proper sanitation. How are we supposed to live with dignity?”

Ignored and sidelined

Brandon Singh, who had been protesting at an intersection from 5am on Wednesday, said, “We are sick and tired of the fact that [Joburg Water and the municipality] can’t keep to their promises and that Coronationville is always the area that is sidelined.”

Dino August, who has lived in Coronationville for 51 years, said, “If it wasn’t for business people in our community who drilled boreholes, I don’t know what would have happened to us.”

If residents don’t collect enough water in the middle of the night, they either have to walk to the sole borehole in the area, which was drilled by Ismail Haffejee, who oversees a mosque in Coronationville with his family.

Otherwise, residents have to chase down water tankers when they occasionally come.

coronationville tanker A water tanker outside a senior citizens’ home in Coronationville on 16 October 2024. (Photo: Julia Evans)

“The water trucks go right past you. If you don’t stand in the street at night and stop a truck, then we don’t have water,” said Van Heerden.

Fiona Barlow, who lives in the same block of flats as Van Heerden, said, “The saddest thing is that the [water tanker] drivers that come, they’re so impatient, they don’t even give us a chance to properly fill up our bottles.”

The toll on daily life

The impact of the water crisis extends beyond inconvenience. Schools in the area often dismiss students early due to a lack of water, and families, especially those with young children or elderly members, struggle to maintain basic hygiene, cook food or get a full night’s sleep.

Van Heerden led Daily Maverick to the block of flats in Coronationville, where she has lived her entire life. As soon as we arrived, her neighbours began to emerge, still in their dressing gowns, exhausted from trying to collect water for their families from two in the morning.

coronationville water protest You won't find a house in Coronatioville that doesn’t have bathtub filled with water — residents have to wake up at 2am, when the water comes on, to fill their bathtubs to store water for flushing toilets, washing their clothes and dishes and filling buckets to bath in after the water goes off at 4am. (Photo: Julia Evans)

“At 2am, you’re filling up the bath, doing the laundry, washing dishes, cleaning the yard, changing the dog’s water, and boiling water so your husband and children can bathe by 5am to get ready for school and work,” explained Lynette Malan, one of van Heerden’s neighbours.

“By 8:30, you might get one or two hours of sleep, but then you’re up again, worried about a message from the school saying you need to pick up your child early.”

When asked when they last had a proper shower, the women shared a laugh, with Malan stating, “Two weeks!”

Residents are also contending with health risks. Barlow said their immune systems were wrecked from having to wake up at 2am, adding that her grandson was battling eczema and a bacterial infection.

“The toilet is the worst part, because you need to constantly be putting water into the toilet. Some toilets are even blocked and that is a bad situation. And no one is coming [to help].

“For months we’ve been living like this… It’s just not fair,” said Van Heerden.

Yolanda van Rensburg, 74, the longest-standing resident of the block, added, “When I was growing up, we never had this problem.”

Van Heerden reminisced about happier days when they had running water, recalling how they would set up inflatable pools for children to swim together in the communal area outside their flats.

Joburg Water’s plan

Van Heerden said the point of their protest was to get the attention of Joburg Water, their councillor or the mayor – “someone to come out and assist us – that’s all we want. We just want clean drinking water, that’s all.”

Joburg Water spokesperson Nombuso Shabalala said that Coronationville relied on the Hursthill 1 Reservoir, which was undergoing significant operational issues and structural deterioration, leading to substantial water losses.

She said the situation was exacerbated by seasonal high-water demand, putting additional strain on the system and resulting in irregular water supply.

“The demand in various systems is exceeding the available capacity. This has resulted in some residents experiencing poor water pressure to no water, especially in higher-lying areas,” she said.

Shabalala emphasised that there were water supply interruptions caused by reasons beyond the entity’s control, such as bulk supply interruptions and power outages, which affected pumping at various systems.

To address the increasing demand and manage water shortages, the City of Johannesburg has implemented level 1 water restrictions from 1 September to 31 March.

Joburg Water said they had addressed the water crisis with the community. It noted that last Friday, 11 October, they held an urgent meeting with local councillors to discuss the situation and seek their assistance in encouraging residents to reduce water consumption.

Residents weren’t convinced.

“We’re going to keep coming here until they hear our cries and find a solution,” said Dino August. DM

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