News24 | Midrand residents protest six-day water outage

Midrand residents took to the street on Tuesday to protest a six-day water outage.

• Midrand residents, including elderly caregivers, protested a six-day water outage caused by infrastructure failures and poor communication.
• Water tankers are insufficient, unreliable, and inaccessible for many, leaving residents dependent on neighbours and friends.
• Civil society groups blame underinvestment in water infrastructure and demand regular updates and accountability from water authorities.

“It’s terrible. I’ve got elderly parents. They’re both in their late eighties. How do I clean them? How do I wash them?” asked Abby Artico from Midrand, who joined dozens of residents on Tuesday to protest an ongoing water outage.

Midrand is one of several suburbs in Johannesburg’s northernmost administrative area that have been without water for almost six days. The area frequently experiences long water outages, according to GroundUp.

Artico said Rand Water, the City of Johannesburg’s bulk water supplier, had been making “excuses” and not clearly communicating when water would be restored.

Collecting water from tankers was impossible without a vehicle, she added, saying she relied on friends and neighbours to help her.

The current outage was caused after a motor connected to one of the pumps at the Zuikerbosch water treatment plant exploded on Tuesday, 27 January. This was repaired a few days later. However, a leak was then discovered at the Klipfontein reservoir inlet, which further extended the outage.

In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, Rand Water said that although “systems have fully recovered and pumping is at full capacity”, Midrand’s water supply had yet to recover.

“The Midrand area has a long-standing problem of high-water consumption exacerbated by the growth of both formal and informal settlements,” read the statement.

Ward councillor Lerato Mphefo lamented the lack of communication from water authorities (Joburg Water and Rand Water).

She said water tankers were unreliable and often inadequate to meet demand, adding that people would arrive at locations where the trucks were supposed to be, only to find no water available.

Ferrial Adam from the civil society water advocacy organisation WaterCAN stated that the outages in Midrand were linked to the broader underinvestment by national and municipal governments in building and maintaining water infrastructure.

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Adam, who helped to organise a water protest outside the Johannesburg council last year, said various civil society groups met with Mayor Dada Morero the previous week.

The mayor and officials from Joburg Water agreed to hold regular engagements with stakeholders, she added.

Adam said she hoped these engagements could be used to track progress on issues affecting water delivery to Johannesburg residents.

WaterCAN wants daily public briefings by Rand Water and Joburg Water, with clear timelines, plain language and explanations.