Joburg mayor calls urgent meeting over water crisis

Joburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda called a  hastily-arranged meeting with ward councillors on Tuesday as the water shortage crisis in the city deepened. 

The meeting on Tuesday night came as Joburg residents entered a second week without water, with some people in various areas threatening to take to the streets and protest. 

The water crisis is due to faults and power outages at several pumping stations, in particular Eikenhof, a major station in the north of Joburg. The water outages have affected several areas in the south of Joburg and in others such as Bryanston and Kensington. Small businesses have also not been spared. 

Gwamanda had to cancel the pre-arranged launch of the Diepkloof Hostel Electrification Project to attend an urgent meeting with ward councillors in affected areas. According to Gwamanda’s spokesperson Mlimandlela Ndamase, the meeting was to provide critical information on the recovery of the system and measures to minimise the disruption on residents.

“The mayor remains committed to returning to Diepkloof Hostel on a later date,” said Ndamase. 

The water crisis seem to have affected essential services including the Randburg Fire Station, which  yesterday did not have water when a fire broke out at a house about a kilometre away.

Employees at the fire station said a water tanker had to drive 12km from Florida to put out the blaze.

“We don't have our own fire engine and we currently do not have water. When the fire was reported to us we had to call Florida to assist with a water tanker and it took them some time to get here. Luckily, nobody was injured. Our tankers don’t have water,” said the employee who asked to remain anonymous. 

Nana Radebe, spokesperson for the Johannesburg Emergency Services, said they have not had major problems despite the water crisis.

“In the Randburg fire case, we had to rely on hydrants but they were a bit far from where the fire was and we had to call a tanker from Florida to boost the hydrant. We manage to put out the fire with no people being  injured. Each region has a water tanker but the problem is fire engines. We are still short,” said Radebe. 

According to Johannesburg Water, Linden 1, Linden 2 and Blairgowrie systems remain critically low to empty after the Eikenhof pumping station power outage. No explanation was provided on why this problem is taking so long to fix. 

The entity offered some hope to residents serviced by the Kensington B reservoir, which it said is “on a recovery trajectory”. However, “we anticipate it will take a few days to show significant improvements”.

The Berea reservoir is critically low, which Joburg Water attributed to high demand, saying poor pressure is expected in certain parts of the supply zone. There are slight improvements at Hursthill 2 but both reservoirs in this area remain critically low. “Poor pressure can be expected in certain parts.”

In Orange Farm, Ennerdale and Lawley, reservoirs improved overnight but levels remain low. The Bryanston tower is supplying normally but remains low due to high demand.

“Johannesburg Water continues to monitor all affected systems. Outlets of the critically low reservoirs will be throttled overnight to build capacity for the next day.” – Additional reporting by TimesLIVE