By Rafieka Williams
City of Johannesburg officials appeared unable to give sufficient reasons for water outages when questioned by the Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation on Friday.
The committee held a virtual briefing with Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero, Rand Water, and Joburg Water — the two entities responsible for water service delivery in the city.
Last week, residents of Coronationville, Westbury, and Westville, along with activists, staged protests demanding water. Clashes with police left several injured and one person dead.
Portfolio committee member Malebo Kobe, from ActionSA, criticised the city for failing to keep residents properly informed. “Johannesburg is fast approaching day zero and I think COJ and the mayor so far hasn’t done sufficient work in terms of communicating and driving that message across to communities,” she said.
She further accused the mayor of making promises with unrealistic deadlines when addressing residents in West Johannesburg, a point Morero conceded.
The mayor faced tough questions about unpaid contractors, Joburg Water’s budget shortfall, missed infrastructure deadlines, and contingency plans to avoid future shortages.
DA committee member Leon Basson said he was not satisfied with Morero’s responses. “You are not serious about the problem of the water in Johannesburg, and you need to come out clear, how you’re going to deal with it. When are you going to ring-fence the money for the water, so that the community can get water in their pipes?”
Morero replied: “You suggest that what we are saying probably it’s not helping you at all and if it’s not helping you as the chair of the committee there’s no answer that you could extract beyond what we have given you.”
This follows the reallocation of funds originally budgeted for Joburg Water. Morero, however, assured the committee that in the next financial year plans would be put in place to ensure the money is properly spent.
Rand Water Group Chief Executive Sipho Mosai told the committee that reservoirs are being depleted as quickly as they are filled, and supply is still failing to meet demand. “By far the largest water withdrawals or drinking water withdrawals from our reservoir is taken by the City of Johannesburg.
“The abstraction is currently at 1700 megalitres per day, ideally this number must really come down so that we are able to store enough water into the system but it can also benefit from the reservoir levels to supply the high lying areas because those areas are dependent on water consumption,” Mosai said.
Joburg Water Executive Director Ntshavheni Mukwevho reported that illegal connections in areas such as Alexandra, Ivory Park, and Orange Farm have been difficult to manage. He also said Joburg Water faces an infrastructure backlog of R27 billion, but assured the committee there are plans to repair reservoirs, starting with Meadowlands and Dunkeld by the end of September 2025.
By November, the utility plans to extend repairs to Yeoville, Ennerdale, Jabulani, Alexandra, Helderkruin, Linden, Marlboro, and other areas.
Morero told the committee that the city is considering insourcing or directly procuring water tankers to prevent sabotage by contractors. MP Visvin Reddy alleged that some contractors have deliberately damaged infrastructure to create demand for tanker services.
The mayor said that boreholes are being considered for informal settlements, where demand has placed a significant strain on supply. With summer approaching, Morero warned that additional water restrictions may soon be imposed on residents.
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