13 Johannesburg suburbs to undergo 24-hour water outage

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Due to a pipeline upgrade, several Johannesburg suburbs will experience a 24-hour water outage from 6:00 on 11 March to 6:00 on 12 March.

Affected areas include Naturena, Freedom Park, Devland Industrial, Coca Cola, Sir Juice, Southfork, Eagle Nest, Meredale, Kibler Park, Mondeor, Mondeor Ext. 2 & 3, Winchester Hills Ext., and Alan Manor. All streets within these suburbs will experience a complete water cut while Johannesburg Water upgrades a 450mm and 250mm steel pipeline.

EFF Marches Against Water Outages

As residents prepare for the disruption, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in Gauteng took to the streets to protest Johannesburg’s ongoing water crisis. The party led a march to Johannesburg Water on Monday, demanding an end to water shedding and calling for a sustainable, reliable water supply.

In a statement, the EFF warned that Johannesburg’s water challenges had reached a critical level, blaming years of mismanagement and neglect.

“This crisis is a product of systemic failures resulting from, among other things, decades of neglect of the City’s infrastructure, orchestrated corruption, sheer incompetence among those operating the water utility, Johannesburg Water, electricity cuts, tampering with water infrastructure, a growing population, and, to some extent, drought,” the party said.

Infrastructure Neglect and Funding Shortfalls

The EFF pointed out that Johannesburg’s water crisis began in 2022 when reservoir levels in the western suburbs dropped dangerously low, yet authorities failed to take action. By 2023, the situation had worsened, with northern and western areas experiencing prolonged outages, some lasting up to a month.

While Stage 6 load shedding played a role in disrupting supply, the EFF argued that the real issue lies in Johannesburg’s ageing infrastructure.

“While Stage 6 load shedding played a huge role in disrupting supply in 2023, the City’s dilapidated infrastructure became more evident, with 48% of water lost through leaks and illegal connections,” the party stated.

The city faces an R27 billion backlog in infrastructure maintenance and expansion. According to the EFF, 45 out of 128 reservoirs require urgent upgrades, with 21 classified as critical. Despite this, Johannesburg allocates less than 33% of the necessary funding for these improvements.

Fears of ‘Day Zero’ in Johannesburg

The EFF warned that unless urgent steps are taken, Johannesburg could face a ‘Day Zero’ scenario, where taps run completely dry.

“If this trend continues, Johannesburg Water will reach Day Zero sooner than we all think,” the party cautioned.

Johannesburg Water has not announced details on alternative water supply measures for affected residents. The planned upgrade aims to improve service delivery, but in the meantime, residents in affected areas must prepare for the disruption.