Latest news with #MakenosiMaroo
The Citizen
03-06-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Rand Water completes maintenance, but municipal failures may leave taps dry
Water supply has resumed after the Rand Water project, but local infrastructure woes mean many residents still face shortages. Residents can expect water supply to return after Rand Water completed major maintenance ahead of schedule. Rand Water spokesperson Makenosi Maroo confirmed the utility completed the maintenance to key infrastructures that started last week, but warned the water supply issues from the municipality to consumer would remain the same. 'Work on the B16 project is complete and pumping at Mapleton has officially started' – but the water supply doesn't return instantly as the system needs time to build capacity, Maroo said. Water shortages affected parts of Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Midvaal municipality, Emfuleni municipality, Govan Mbeki municipality, Victor Khanye municipality and Thembisile Hani municipality. Municipalities called to maintain infrastructure Water CAN's Ferrial Adam said maintenance the past weekend would help in terms of bulk supply from Rand Water, but not from municipality to the consumer. 'What needs to happen is that similarly at the municipal level, all municipalities need to fund their infrastructure better and do maintenance,' Adam said. 'Rand Water supplies four municipalities. I don't think any of the municipalities are doing it well. Joburg is the melting pot at the moment. ALSO READ: Big update on Rand Water maintenance outages 'The maintenance is not drastically different from what we are experiencing in Johannesburg.' Residents were still going to get intermittent supply and water cuts, as well as leaks, Adam said. 'We still have very high non-revenue water through leaks until the City of Joburg get serious and decides to fund this.' 'Water systems falling apart' Adam asked why the city presented good turnaround strategies, knowing they didn't have the funds. 'From the strategy, you can see they know where the problems are, but it seems they don't get that they need to fix the infrastructure. 'You cannot go around shouting economic development when your water systems are falling apart, your electricity systems are falling apart and your roads are falling apart. 'They need to focus on those issues and fix those before everything else,' Adam said. 'They knew they had 42 leaking reservoirs. They say they have identified the key 20 but they are getting nowhere. Not one tender has been issued, while residents have to accept the situation,' she said. Consumers blamed AfriForum's advisor in environmental affairs Marais de Vaal said the metros concerned should refrain from using residents as scapegoats. ALSO READ: Water outages continue in Gauteng due to maintenance They should start dealing with the real issues – outdated infrastructure that is not properly maintained, gross mismanagement of the resources and serious water losses, driven by illegal connections and leaks. 'AfriForum is raising the alarm over the misleading narrative pushed by government entities regarding the escalating water crisis in Gauteng,' De Vaal said. 'The parliamentary portfolio committee on water and sanitation last month again made an appeal for residents to use water sparingly and urgently reduce consumption to global norms. 'AfriForum argues that these ongoing appeals are based on the misinterpretation of data, which unfairly and solely place the blame on consumers. 'They are all the while diverting attention from Gauteng's metropolitan municipalities' [Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg and Tshwane] mismanagement of the resource,' De Vaal said. Detailed records of metros AfriForum earlier this year submitted formal applications in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act to all three metros to obtain access to detailed records on water usage over the past five years – from July 2019 to June last year. 'Only the Tshwane municipality provided information in this regard. The failure of the other two municipalities to make this important information available raises serious concerns about their commitment to transparency and their ability to address the crisis,' De Vaal said. NOW READ: Here's how many millions SA sends to Lesotho each month for water
The Citizen
02-06-2025
- Climate
- The Citizen
Water outages continue in Gauteng due to maintenance
Joburg Water also warned residents who receive water from the Deep South system that high demand was constraining the system. It is unclear when water will return to the thousands of households across Gauteng affected by Rand Water's 107-hour planned maintenance. Parts of the City of Tshwane, City of Ekurhuleni, Midvaal Local Municipality, Emfuleni Local Municipality, Govan Mbeki Local Municipality, Victor Khanye Local Municipality, and Thembisile Hani Local Municipality were without water by day two of the four-day planned maintenance yesterday. Rand Water spokesperson Makenosi Maroo said Rand Water reported that progress on the B16 project had been steady throughout the night and remained on track for completion as scheduled. 'Necessary interventions' Joburg Water warned residents that it would put in necessary interventions, including closing outlets. An alternate water supply had been arranged to assist with the recovery and restoration process. 'While many of the reservoirs had fair supply and capacity with poor pressure due to high demand, the Doornkop Reservoir was constrained and the outlet was closed due to poor pressure and no water.' ALSO READ: Tshwane's water warning to residents Joburg Water also warned residents who receive water from the Deep South system that high demand was constraining the system. 'The system improved and supplied throughout the day, but is declining. Joburg Water is putting in the necessary intervention, including closing outlets overnight to build capacity.' Joburg Water also indicated that the Orange Farm Reservoir, Ennerdale Reservoir, Lawley Reservoir, Lenasia Hospital Hill and Lenasia High Level were at fair capacity. WaterCAN's Ferrial Adam said: 'The Alexander reservoir that feeds Kensington and Bruma was not pumping at the right pressure and they had to sort it out, which meant that area didn't have water. 'There were other low reservoirs linked to the Rand Water pipe burst that happened about two to three weeks ago,' Adam said. ALSO READ: 21-day water outage in Joburg set to begin Friday In Tshwane in most areas expected to be affected, taps ran dry with residents taking to social media for updates on where to collect water. Equestria, Faerie Glen, Eastlynn and Waterkloof reported dry taps, while residents in Moreleta had water. Water outage warning City of Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba last week warned residents of Region 6 and some parts of Regions 2 and 3 to urgently reduce water consumption as the levels of the reservoirs supplying these areas were dropping significantly. ALSO READ: Municipal water crisis 'nothing to do with bulk water supply', says minster at LHWP reopening Bokaba said continued high consumption was likely to put consumers at risk of having no water from today until the work was completed. 'The high volume of consumption is also putting the city's distribution network and Rand Water systems under severe pressure,' he said. Bokaba reminded customers that the water utility would also isolate the Klipriviersberg Master Reservoir from the Palmiet system for 10 hours from tomorrow. 'This is to allow the water utility's technicians to clean and conduct an inspection on the reservoir. During this period, pumping will be reduced to 67% at the Palmiet station. 'The City of Tshwane apologises for the inconvenience as a result of the abovementioned maintenance work,' Bokaba added. NOW READ: Gauteng residents warned to brace for major water disruptions this week
