Joburg Water targets informal settlements in crackdown on illegal connections

Johannesburg Water disconnects illegal water connections in the Phumla Mqashi informal settlement in Lenasia, Johannesburg South, on 12 November 2024. (Photo: Julia Evans)

By Julia Evans

6 Jan 2025

Johannesburg Water plans to escalate its crackdown on illegal water connections to combat excessive non-revenue water losses.

Johannesburg Water has announced plans to ramp up its mass disconnection programme targeting illegal water connections across the city. This move comes as the utility grapples with a staggering 46% non-revenue water (NRW) rate for the 2023/24 financial year.

Read more: With a R27bn infrastructure upgrades backlog, Joburg Water takes financial reins back from city

NRW refers to treated water that generates no revenue for the utility, whether lost through leaks, theft, or unbilled usage. So, for example, for every 100 litres of water that Joburg Water buys from Rand Water, the utility is unable to recoup revenue on 46 litres.

The utility attributes 25% of these losses to physical issues such as leaks and pipe bursts, 9.7% to commercial losses (including theft and billing errors), and 11.7% to authorised but unbilled consumption.

Informal settlements targeted

In response to the high non-revenue water losses, and Joburg’s ongoing water crisis – that has left paying residents without a consistent supply of water for days, sometimes months – Joburg Water has intensified its mass disconnection programme, targeting illegal water connections, particularly in informal settlements where there are high levels of water losses.

Read more: ‘Humanitarian crisis’ — Residents protest at water cuts as Joburg Water says it’s ‘stepped up our game’

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

Johannesburg Water said it would intensify the disconnections, not just in the Deep South, but in all informal settlements across the city where residents have connected illegally to the municipal water network.

“Informal settlements, by virtue of the infrastructure condition and utilisation are … areas with significant physical water losses,” the water entity said in a statement last Friday, 3 January 2025.

The disconnection programme is part of Joburg Water’s five-year Water Conservation and Demand Management Strategy – which aims to reduce water demand by 37,000 megalitres annually – and also includes repairing leaking reservoirs, upgrading zonal bulk meters, improving pressure management, enforcing by-laws and replacing old pipes and valves.

Joburg Water says disconnections have already seen considerable shifts in reservoir and tower capacity since the disconnection programme began late last year.

For example, in the Deep South Region (Ennerdale, Lenasia, Orange Farm and Lawley areas) reservoir levels have doubled, optimising equitable water distribution.

However, the approach has drawn criticism from community leaders, civil society groups and residents, who argue that the focus on informal settlements disproportionately affects vulnerable populations.

Maureen Mnisi, the Democratic Alliance proportional representative councillor responsible for several wards including Protea South, Thembalihle, Lawler station and Phumla Mqashi, said that the disconnection programme overlooked systemic failures in providing basic services to informal settlements.

“People resort to illegal connections out of desperation.”

joburg Phumla Mqashi Residents of Phumla Mqashi, an area without formal water supply infrastructure in Lenasia, Johannesburg South, watch as Joburg Water disconnects illegal connections on 12 November 2024. (Photo: Julia Evans)

“I condemn illegal connections, but I blame the government of this country for ignoring the people of informal settlements, and not taking steps against the people who steal the money that is supposed to provide standpipes for water in informal settlements,” she said.

Dr Ferial Adam, executive manager of WaterCAN, a community action network under the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse, said, “There is no doubt that non-revenue water is a challenge in the city,” but emphasised that non-revenue water included leaks, non-billed water and theft.

“Will the city be placing as much energy and focus on other aspects as well?” asked Adam, pointing to the work needed on 20 of the 42 leaking reservoirs.

“Will they have the same energy and attention (as) large water users?” she asked.

“Why do they (the city) seem to go for the most vulnerable first?”

Water tanker issues

Joburg Water has committed to ensuring a continuous water supply in areas where illegal connections are cut, saying that water tankers will be regularly deployed and refilled. The utility serves about 36,000 households in informal settlements daily, providing both water tankers and chemical toilets to support basic sanitation.

Residents have, however, raised concerns about the sustainability and safety of these services.

Residents of Phumla Mqashi informal settlement in Lenasia South, which had illegal pipes cut by Joburg Water last November, told Daily Maverick that the provided water tankers often ran out of water supply by the time they returned home from work. In addition, the tankers and chemical toilets were not considered safe, particularly for women and children when collecting water or using toilets at night.

The water itself is also a cause for concern; residents have complained that poorly maintained tanks cause health issues.

Councillor Mnisi explained: “These tanks are poorly maintained, with lids that are easy to tamper with, creating a significant risk of water contamination. This neglect jeopardises the health of the community and highlights a glaring failure in water service delivery.”

Read more: Lenasia residents demand access to clean water after Joburg disconnections

In a memorandum of demands handed over to the city and Joburg Water last December, residents requested the removal of defective, unsterilised Jojo tanks within 48 hours, as these were “causing diarrhoea in some residents” if the water was not boiled before consumption.

The memo was to be delivered to Joburg Mayor Dada Morero and Joburg Water MD Ntshavheni Mukwevho, but was accepted by Joburg Water’s Bonginkosi Xaba on their behalf.

When asked if it was aware of these concerns, and what it was doing to address them, Joburg Water told Daily Maverick, “We have not received any such reports, especially from the duly elected community leaders and the ward councillors.” It said that 53 stationary water tanks were currently deployed, and that, “Johannesburg Water is in consultation with various stakeholders to consider increasing the supply of alternative water. However, this is a work in progress.”

joburg phumla mqashi disconnect Joburg Water workers disconnect an illegal connection in the Phumla Mqashi informal settlement in Lenasia, Johannesburg South, on 12 November 2024. (Photo: Julia Evans)

In a statement last Friday, Joburg Water urged residents in informal settlements to take care of water tanks to help maintain basic services for the community.

“If there are no water tanks in various areas in informal settlements, residents are urged to report the matter to their ward councillor or the nearest Johannesburg Water depot,” the statement urged.

Community impact and resistance

The disconnection programme has faced significant pushback – Joburg Water’s first disconnection operation at Phumla Mqashi on Tuesday, 12 November 2024 was met by resistance from shocked residents that led to a hostile stand-off between police.

Read more: Joburg Water banished by angry Lenasia residents after operation to remove illegal connections

Three weeks after the attempted disconnection operation, hundreds of residents from Phumla Mqashi marched to the Lenasia South Civic Centre, demanding the city and Joburg Water reconnect their taps, install additional communal taps and remove defective water tanks.

When asked about the resistance, Joburg Water spokesperson Nombuso Shabalala said, “Disconnections attract resistance and disruptions, but these interventions are necessary to instil a culture of water savings and reduce massive losses.”

While Adam acknowledged that non-revenue water (NRW) was a significant issue requiring urgent attention, she questioned whether illegal connections were truly the largest source of water losses.

“Can the government share the top 30 government and private buildings that have not paid their bills or consume excessive amounts of water?” she asked. “And can they audit their own buildings first to build trust and demonstrate that informal settlements are not being unfairly targeted?”

“Clean water is a fundamental right,” Mnisi said, imploring Joburg Water to engage residents and ensure standpipes were installed before cutting off water. She said that otherwise, unrest was inevitable.

Adam stressed that Joburg Water had to work to rebuild trust and avoid repeating the chaos caused by previous disconnections. “They need to engage with people and do this in a better way than they did last year, (when it created) mayhem and unrest.” DM

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South Africa

Informal settlements targeted

Water tanker issues

Community impact and resistance