Sasolburg's 16-day water shutdown upends schools and community

Daily Maverick

6 days ago

A planned 16-day water shutdown in northern Free State initiated by Rand Water for mandatory dam safety and reservoir cleaning, has forced primary schools to send pupils home early and left thousands of residents queuing at water tankers.
While a planned two-week water shutdown is under way in the Northern Free State, pupils in Sasolburg primary schools are being sent home early, at 9am or 11am, since there is no water in the taps. Alternative water supply, brought by tankers, is insufficient.
The water shutdown in Sasolburg, Zamdela and Vaalpark in the Free State, initiated by Rand Water for mandatory dam safety and reservoir cleaning, began on 30 May and is scheduled to end on 14 June.
A notice issued by the Metsimaholo Local Municipality on 15 May said the work 'can no longer be deferred' because it was required 'to comply with stringent regulatory safety standards designed to protect both the infrastructure and the public'.
In a 29 May media statement, Rand Water emphasised that the project was progressing 'as scheduled' and formed part of broader efforts 'to upgrade infrastructure, increase capacity and improve plant availability, ensuring a more reliable water supply in the long term'.
Impact on education
While Rand Water works on mandatory Dam Safety Evaluation and cleaning of Sasolburg Reservoir No 1, educators are counting lost hours in the classroom. Primary schools in Sasolburg have been dismissing pupils at 9am or 11am since the outage began.
According to educators and local NGO representatives, the disruptions are affecting assessments, daily teaching, and student wellbeing.
'The schools received a letter from the department instructing them that school must be dismissed at 11am and the learners must bring bottles of water because although there are boreholes in some schools, the water is not drinkable,' said a representative from the JumpStart Foundation, an NGO working with schools in the area, providing mathematics training for foundation phase teachers.
The water crisis forced the foundation to cancel workshops planned for this week.
'It's unfortunate, especially in a subject like mathematics where consistent instruction is critical,' said the representative.
The timing of the outage has intensified pressure on both learners and educators as it coincides with a critical assessment period.
'Some teachers can't conduct assessments at all, not only because of absenteeism, but also due to the limited instructional time. There's very little learning happening during these shortened days,' she said.
The education department has promised catch-up programmes once the water supply is restored, but concerns remain about the long-term impact. Daily Maverick sent questions to the Free State education department. They had not responded at the time of publication.
'We already lost time during the regular April holidays and an additional week due to public holidays. This latest disruption has pushed teachers and learners even further behind. I don't know how they'll catch up,' the representative said.
Tankers under pressure
Dr Gino Alberts, Communications Manager at Metsimaholo Local Municipality, told Daily Maverick that alternative supplies were being prioritised for key facilities.
'The municipality, in collaboration with Rand Water, has implemented a range of alternative water supply measures, including the deployment of water tankers to wards that have experienced direct supply disruptions,' said Alberts.
These include Wards 1, 2, 6, 7, 13, 19 and 21, and Alberts said that schools and essential services within these areas had been prioritised,
'We recognise the concern about schools closing early due to water shortages,' said Alberts.
'It is important to note that while water tankers have been dispatched daily, the difference in delivery mode (tanker vs piped supply) does present logistical constraints.'
'The tanker system, while helpful, cannot match the continuous flow and volume provided by direct taps, especially for a population of approximately 54,800 residents. The number of tankers currently available is also limited by budgetary constraints, which we are actively reviewing to improve responsiveness.
Queues form quickly when tankers arrive, particularly during early-morning and late-afternoon collection windows. Working adults sometimes miss the brief delivery slots; parents report rationing household water for cooking and minimal washing. Alberts conceded that 'fleet and financial limitations' restricted the number of vehicles on the road, but said the municipality was 'actively reviewing' its budget to boost responsiveness.
Because demand fluctuates sharply across 21 wards, fixed schedules have proved impossible. 'Each deployment is coordinated in close consultation with ward councillors, who are informed as tankers depart from collection points,' Alberts said. Residents were urged to stay in touch with their councillors for updates.
Maintenance
According to Rand Water, the maintenance involves cleaning and conducting a statutory inspection of the Sasolburg Reservoir. This reservoir is classified as a Category II dam under the National Water Act (Act 36 of 1998).
As part of this classification, the dam is subject to safety inspections every five years, in line with regulatory standards.
'It is also important to mention that the maintenance work has been strategically scheduled during the low-consumption months of May-July to minimise disruptions and better manage the potential impact on water supply to our customers,' the water entity told Daily Maverick.
Rand Water said that, although redundancy measures were in place, the scale of the maintenance work affected multiple municipalities. In line with the pipeline's operational standards, pressure had to be reduced at the Sasolburg Reservoir.
'The objective of this planned maintenance is to increase capacity and improve plant availability, reliability and operational efficiency, thereby supporting a more resilient and adaptable water supply network in preparation for anticipated increase in supply volumes during the high-demand seasons (August-January),' said the water entity.
When asked how it planned to prevent similar large-scale disruptions during future maintenance projects, Rand Water said that such maintenance was necessary to ensure the overall efficiency of the water supply network. It was also a legislative requirement. As a result, consumers in the affected municipalities might experience intermittent water supply during these periods.
'Rand Water has established a Joint Operations Committee with the affected local municipalities to ensure management of alternative water supply,' said Rand Water.
Hospitals, clinics and schools top priorities
Under Metsimaholo's tiered priority system, hospitals, clinics and schools top the list. Fezi Ngubentombi Hospital has a dedicated JoJo tank that municipal teams refill, while tested borehole water is made available for drinking. Clinics receive refills on rotation, and 20-litre containers are supplied to those without fixed tanks.
Alberts said daily coordination meetings with Rand Water and the provincial health and education departments allowed 'real-time adjustments based on changing demand and logistical considerations'. A temporary bypass pipeline feeding the Sasolburg reservoir, though narrower than the main line, had also 'helped lessen the overall impact of the shutdown'.
'This is not just inconvenient; it's unjust'
'There is no doubt that infrastructure maintenance is essential. But there is a complete disconnect between the technical work being done and the harsh realities faced by people on the ground,' said Dr Ferrial Adam, executive director of civil society organisation WaterCAN
'In communities hit by prolonged water outages, the burden is especially heavy on the elderly – many of whom are forced to use their Sassa grants just to pay others to carry water for them,' she said. 'This is not just inconvenient; it's unjust.'
Lessons for a drier future
Even before this outage, Sasolburg's water system was vulnerable to leaks and peak-demand shortages. The present crisis, Alberts admits, has 'reinforced several vital lessons':
Storage: 'The need to invest in additional water storage infrastructure, such as new or expanded reservoirs, to enhance resilience during interruptions.'
Maintenance: Proactive leak detection to curb distribution losses.
Public awareness: Community campaigns on conservation and responsible use.
Planning: Predictable, equitable water-shedding schedules for future emergencies.
Stakeholder forums: A structured platform linking Rand Water, municipality, schools and civil society for faster response when things go wrong.
Adam agreed that massive maintenance projects demanded more than just engineering plans, saying, 'they require clear communication, on-the-ground support, and dignified solutions'.
She said communities needed:
'Water is a basic human right. Maintenance must never come at the cost of dignity.' DM