Water crisis deepens across South Africa as communities face prolonged outages

The Star

04-07-2025

Frustration and unrest continue to ripple across South Africa as numerous communities grapple with ongoing water outages that have severely disrupted day-to-day activities.
Municipalities attribute these outages to a combination of factors, including unplanned maintenance, burst pipes, and crucial infrastructure upgrades.
However, for many affected residents, these explanations provide little comfort when faced with empty taps. In the face of these challenges, many citizens say they find themselves in a helpless situation, forced to buy expensive bottled water or wait for government tankers, which sometimes fail to deliver much-need water.
The crisis is not isolated to a singular locality but stretches across provinces, notably Gauteng, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Western Cape, where strict water usage regulations have been imposed to manage the scarcity.
In Cosmo City, a suburb in Johannesburg, the situation is particularly dire where residents report prolonged outages that exceed scheduled maintenance days, leaving them exasperated and without a reliable source of water.
Phakama Mhlali, a local non-profit organisation dedicated to addressing service delivery issues, revealed the dire concerns the residents of Cosmo City face in a letter shared with the Saturday Star with many revealing that they are struggling with mounting municipal bills and inadequate support during these challenging times.
'R esidents are unable to meet the requirements of the current outstanding bill. Support during water shortages: There is little to no support from Johannesburg Water during water shortages and water shedding; little to no notice or preparation is given when water is cut. Leaving no time to prepare and with no assistance from Johannesburg Water. There are no technicians supplied to Cosmo City when residents are experiencing technical issues with said meters. Meter implementations are done unjustly. Only a few residences are required meters and are paying for said water, while other residents continue to have access to water freely without charge. Little support from the ESP programme: elderly and disadvantaged residents are still obligated to meet the full requirements regarding the municipal bill demands of Cosmo residents to Johannesburg Water,' the letter noted.
Adding to the chorus of frustration, residents like Ma Hlophe, a local business owner, are grappling with the financial ramifications of water shortages.
'People are leaving my place to find better rentals where they can get access to water and electricity. I have tried so many ways, but we are not getting any help. They make promises, but nothing is ever done. It has been weeks without electricity. Water outages have added more frustration. Things are really bad in this area.'
The Forum for South Africa (FOSA), led by Tebogo Mashilompane, speaks out against what they perceive as deliberate sabotage of water and electricity services by the government.
'The issue of water and electricity is a deliberate act of sabotage from the government. The government is complicit in all these infrastructure attacks because when you look into the issue of water, for example, municipalities are deliberate in allowing infrastructure to dilapidate so that they can source the service from the water tankers,' he stated, criticising the current status quo and calling for community engagement on these pressing issues.
Mashilompane revealed that FOSA has initiated community consultative campaigns to engage residents directly, spotlighting the systemic neglect that they believe is causing these ongoing outages.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has also voiced its concerns, questioning the silence from Johannesburg Water amidst ongoing Rand Water maintenance affecting major supply lines.
'This comes on top of existing Rand Water maintenance that had reduced the pumping capacity of the Eikenhof Pumping Station to 50%. Rand Water's maintenance already impacts multiple high-demand systems, including Commando, Orlando East and West, Soweto, Brixton, Crosby, Hursthill 1 and 2, Northcliff, Crown Gardens, and various central and high-lying suburbs – dry taps stemming from these outages ought to be communicated by Joburg Water, but there has been radio silence on the matter,' the DA stated.
In Emfuleni, the DA has escalated matters to the Human Rights Commission (HRC) due to ongoing water shortages in areas like France, Extension 2, and Boipatong.
' Beyond our complaint to the Human Rights Commission, we demand to know if the contractor who was appointed was indeed qualified to carry out the work; whether the contractor has a proven track record of previously having done this type of work; and finally and why was the community left without water for weeks on end. '
Adding to the pressure, the Amandla.Mobi movement has initiated a petition urging the Department of Water and Sanitation to act on the persistent problem of water leaks, further indicating the widespread community dissatisfaction.
In KZN, communities like Kwandengezi have gone without running water for weeks, compounding difficulties during school holidays alongside Mthatha residents who are still recovering from devastating floods.
Responding to the frustrations, Nombuso Shabalala, spokesperson for Johannesburg Water, told the Saturday Star that recent prolonged interruptions were primarily due to maintenance conducted by Rand Water. 'Johannesburg Water continues to deploy alternative water supply through roaming and stationary water tankers to assist affected communities, with priority given to critical facilities such as clinics, hospitals, and schools, ' Shabalala noted.
In addressing the concerns over dysfunctional water meters, Shabalala reassured residents that their teams are actively working to resolve reported issues, urging residents to log their complaints through official channels to ensure prompt attention. 'We continue to work closely with Rand Water to normalise supply,' she added.
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Saturday Star