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Lenasia residents demand access to clean water after Joburg disconnections

Protestors walking back home from the Lenasia South Civic Centre after delivering a memorandum to Johannesburg Water, demanding access to clean running water from communal taps, on 2 December 2024. (Photo: Julia Evans)

By Julia Evans

2 Dec 2024

Residents of Phumla Mqashi informal settlement in Lenasia South took to the streets on Monday, demanding urgent access to clean, running water after Johannesburg Water disconnected illegal water connections earlier in November.

Teboho Makateng leaves for his job as a security guard in Roodepoort at 4am. By the time he gets home at 6pm, to Phumla Mqashi informal settlement in Lenasia South, the JoJo tanks that Joburg Water has provided are empty.

Makateng, like the other 13,000 to 17,000 households in Phumla Mqashi, has been without formal water and sanitation infrastructure since its establishment in 2016.

Residents resorted to illegally connecting to Johannesburg Water’s pipelines, which the utility attempted to disconnect on 12 November – an operation that came as a surprise to residents and was met by hostility and a stand-off.

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

On Monday, following the disconnections, hundreds of residents from Phumla Mqashi marched from the Shoprite Complex on Golden Highway, to the Lenasia South Civic Centre, where demonstrators planned to deliver a memorandum to Joburg Mayor Dada Morero and Joburg Water MD Ntshavheni Mukwevho.

lenasia joburg water protest Jeffrey Mphohoni (centre), a Phumla Mqashi resident and organiser of the protest, speaks to the crowd outside the Lenasia South Civic Centre on 2 December 2024. Bonginkosi Xaba (right), a Johannesburg Water representative, stands ready to receive the protesters’ memorandum of demands. (Photo: Julia Evans)

While neither official was present, Johannesburg Water’s Bonginkosi Xaba accepted the memorandum on their behalf.

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

Maureen Mnisi, Democratic Alliance proportional representative councillor working with the Phumla Mqashi community, told Daily Maverick that residents resorted to illegal water connections because Joburg Water had failed to meet their needs.

“Between 2015/2017, only six standpipes were installed at Plot 56 Univille, leaving thousands without accessible water,” she said. “While JoJo tanks were provided, many return late from work, exposing residents – especially women and children – to the dangers of crime when retrieving water at night.

“Water trucks arriving only twice a week is unacceptable. Families often go to bed thirsty, unable to access this basic human right.”

Lenasia water Residents of the Phumla Mqashi informal settlement in Lenasia South demand access to clean running water from communal taps. (Photo: Julia Evans)

JoJo tanks making residents sick

Following the disconnection operation, Joburg Water has deployed “JoJo” tanks to parts of the settlement, but multiple residents told Daily Maverick there are not nearly enough and they don’t trust that the water is safe to drink.

“The water often causes diarrhoea if not boiled,” residents said in the memorandum, adding that boiling water was unaffordable for the 98% unemployed residents.

water protest Residents of Phumla Mqashi informal settlement in Lenasia South marched to Lenasia South Civic Centre on 2 December 2024 to demand access to clean, running water from communal taps. (Photo: Julia Evans)

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.”

Residents memorandum outlined three key demands:

Reconnection of communal taps: Reconnection of communal taps’ water supply valve within seven days from receipt of their memorandum.

Installation of additional taps: Residents requested the installation of 30 new communal tap dispensing points, spread equitably throughout Phumla Mqashi, within 180 days to alleviate overcrowding at existing facilities.

Removal of defective water tanks: They demanded the removal within 48 hours of “defective, unsterilised Jojo tanks”, which they say have caused diarrhoea and/or runny stomachs, if drunk unboiled.

The residents also called on Ward 6 Councillor Solly Phometsi and Ward 120 Councillor Celestine Puseletso Nimande to recognise their decision to dissolve the “Top 7” leadership structure, led by Sibusiso Ndlovu, which was established in 2018 under the South African National Civics Organisation (Sanco), who residents said established this informal settlement,

During a public meeting on 17 November 2024, the community said they voted to replace this structure with a new interim body consisting of 15 members and supported by the Phumla Mqashi Service Delivery Crisis Resolution Committee, which will manage community affairs and crises.

Flat-rate billing

“We humbly acknowledge our flawed decision as households on behalf of some within our community who had unlawfully connected water pipes to the Johannesburg Water infrastructure without the express permission from the Water Utility Company and the City of Johannesburg,” residents stated in the memorandum.

phumla mqashi water Residents of Phumla Mqashi informal settlement in Lenasia South protest over their water supply. (Photo: Julia Evans)

They also highlighted their willingness to engage in a flat-rate billing system, pleading with the Joburg mayor to create a flat-rate account, saying: “We are willing to engage with Revenue Collection Unit in the City of Johannesburg, to honour our commitment of payment for access to clean, safe, running water from taps.”

The memorandum referred to the Water Services Act 108 of 1997, which guarantees access to basic water and sanitation and mandates municipalities to set standards for affordable tariffs, and the National Water Act 36 of 1998, which promotes equitable access to water resources and mandates redress for historical inequalities.

Joburg Water response

In a statement released after the protest on Monday, Johannesburg Water reiterated its stance against reconnecting illegal water connections in Phumla Mqashi.

The utility highlighted the positive impact of the 12 November disconnections on the water levels of the Lenasia High-Level and Hospital Hill reservoirs, saying it was a “significant step forward in reducing non-revenue water (NRW).”

According to Joburg Water, the 2023/2024 financial year saw a staggering 46.2% of the water supplied classified as non-revenue water – which refers to both physical water losses (burst pipes and leaks) and commercial losses (such as billing errors and illegal connections).

Lenasia water Protesters walk home from the Lenasia South Civic Centre after delivering a memorandum to Johannesburg Water, demanding access to clean running water from communal taps, on 2 December 2024. (Photo: Julia Evans)

But Joburg Water said that the Phumla Mqashi disconnection had contributed to improved reservoir levels, with the Lenasia system exceeding 6.80 meters for the first time in recent weeks. The utility emphasised the need for sustainable water management practices and announced ongoing efforts to engage with community leaders and ward councillors.

Read more: Protests hit Joburg again after a six-day water supply cut

To address immediate needs, Joburg Water has deployed 36 water tankers and plans to add nine more, bringing the total to 45. However, the entity maintained that reconnecting illegal connections was not an option.

Dr Ferial Adam, executive manager of WaterCAN, a community action network under the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa), said, “The issue in Lenaisa highlights the inequality of access to water in South Africa.

“It is important that Joburg Water engage with people before cutting them off – and also offer alternative supplies and ensure immediate access to clean water for all residents while addressing infrastructure challenges in a fair and sustainable way.”

She said, “The government must also be as hard on the government and commercial sector for non-payment. R32.7-billion is owed by commercial and government – so show fairness.”

Right to water

The provision of water and sanitation is a basic human right and is supported by national legislation. Adam said that in 2001, South Africa introduced a policy of free basic services, including water, electricity and solid waste collection.

As part of that policy, every household should receive the first 6,000 litres of water per month free, based on a calculation of a minimum of 25 litres per person per day for a household of eight.

However, she said municipalities could decide if free basic water was made available only to the poor, and how the poor would be defined and identified.

Joburg Water previously told Daily Maverick that installing more permanent water infrastructure, such as communal taps, would require a directive and a budget from the Department of Human Settlements.

Nozipho Zulu, spokesperson for the Department of Human Settlements, told Daily Maverick that following the operation to cut illegal connections in November that the government, including the City of Johannesburg and national and provincial human settlement departments, were constitutionally obliged to provide these services to all residents – including those in Phumla Mqashi.

For the 2024/2025 financial year, R1.9-billion was allocated through the Urban Settlements Development Grant in the City of Johannesburg alone, and R739.7-million through the Informal Settlements Upgrading Partnership Grant.

However, Zulu clarified that metros such as Johannesburg drafted their own business plans and managed local priorities, so the department couldn’t issue a directive to the metro to undertake a particular project or provide certain services.

Daily Maverick asked the City of Joburg if it planned to build more permanent infrastructure at Phumla Mqashi, as part of its business plan, but it has not responded. DM

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