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

Residents in Coronationville, Johannesburg, protest over ongoing water supply disruptions on Tuesday, 26 November 2024. (Photo: Supplied)

By Ferial Haffajee

26 Nov 2024

Rolling water protests in which tyres were set alight and cars stopped flared again in Johannesburg as residents across the city faced days-long water cuts. The troublesome Commando System which services the south-west of Johannesburg ran dry after problems earlier in November.

https://youtube.com/shorts/vcbcyPTZKWk?si=_BMzzTgU3yjvrHPW

The video and images show how protests began on Tuesday, 26 November after many people went without water for six days, one of the longest extended periods in areas which nowadays have weekly water cuts and interruptions.

The protests occurred on Fuel Road in Coronationville and through Western Township near the Rahima Moosa Hospital. On Thursday, 28 November, residents will protest in Hursthill from 5.30am. They want to close a major arterial road from the south and west of the city into Johannesburg’s business districts to draw attention to their plight.

Residents in Coronationville, Johannesburg, protes over ongoing water supply disruptions on Tuesday, 26 November 2024. (Photo: Supplied)

Asked if the hospital was affected, CEO Dr Arthur Manning said: “It is functional only because of the borehole (dug and installed by the Gift of the Givers). Johannesburg Water has sent water tankers so we are able to continue functioning after a malfunction of the borehole system.”

It has subsequently been fixed.

“I’m at a complete loss. Trying to run a school and keep it hygienic without water is like asking for a miracle. Plus, the water tankers are on strike. We needed to pay R8,500 to have our JoJo’s filled by a private company. We cannot afford that. I’m beyond disgusted,” said Raylene Nadassen of St Theresa’s convent in Coronationville.

This reservoir update graphic circulated to councillors by Johannesburg Water shows that the Hursthill 1 and 2 reservoirs are empty, so the system has run dry. All the reservoirs are running low because it’s a searing hot summer and because the Commando System which supplies it is in trouble.

Rand Water has released 100 megalitres (a million litres) extra to boost the dry system and will match it with a second water release, too.

“It will be fine,” the MD of Johannesburg Water Ntshavheni Mukwevho told Daily Maverick.

He said the system would stabilise overnight and that areas supplied by the Crown, Quellerina and Waterval reservoirs would recover quickly.

The Commando System will take longer to recover, but he expected that within a day or two, the system would improve.

“Each day is better than the last,” Mukwevho said.

The problem started on 14 November when City Power, Johannesburg’s electricity supplier, shut down the Eikenhof substation for emergency repairs, knocking out the Eikenhof pumping station. This impacted on Rand Water (the bulk water supplier) and caused interruptions across the city.

Because water outages take much longer than electricity after load shedding to come back on, the city has experienced weeks of problems. DA councillor Nicole van Dyk, who specialises in water, said that the city’s water utility needed to monitor Rand Water’s supply more closely as she was not convinced it was supplying at the volumes or pressure it should.

Residents in Coronationville, Johannesburg, protest over ongoing water supply disruptions on Tuesday, 26 November 2024. (Photo: Supplied)

Besides the areas where protests have started, many other parts of the city are out of water or on low pressure (called throttling).

WaterCan executive manager Dr Ferrial Adam said most reservoirs were running low and that because half the city’s fleet of 87 reservoirs had leaks, they were being fixed and so had to be emptied. This had compounded a difficult week.

Parts of Eldorado Park, Soweto and Lenasia all reported outages as did 22 suburbs in the north of the city, including Hyde Park where President Cyril Ramaphosa lives. In the east of the city, residents reported throttling which took out water supply from early evening to late morning.

This chart shows that Johannesburg has experienced thousands of water cuts this year.

The national and provincial governments are managing the city system much more closely through the Platform for a Water Secure Gauteng. It puts out a weekly water status update (see below). This shows that all three cities are consuming water way over target levels.

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Daily Maverick would like to thank our water citizen reporter Michael Thompson of Coronationville for his assistance.

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