It has been a frustrating few days for residents across parts of the City of Johannesburg, with some being without water for ten days following a lightning strike at the Eikenhof pump station. Each day promises were made that water would be restored, and each day, residents found their taps bone dry. Exasperated residents have questioned why they are paying rates and taxes if they are receiving little to no service delivery. As Joburg residents grappled with the latest water crisis, we asked readers to tell us about their experiences over the past few days.
Photography by Alfonso Nqunjana
Water is life
We live in a peaceful suburb and work hard. We love Johannesburg, and although our city is falling apart, load shedding, potholes, overflowing bins and crime do not worry me too much. I know that our experience in the past few days pales in significance when compared with that of many other South Africans.
Yet, our biggest household expense is our City of Johannesburg account, and water in our taps makes me feel secure.
In the past 10 days, our taps have run completely dry. We are privileged that we have managed to buy drinking water and go to a laundromat. Yet, every toilet flush is counted and, each day, we have to watch social media and drive to water tankers to refill bottles. It is hot, our family is irritable, and we are snapping at each other.
The worst aspect of this experience has been the lack of communication by Johannesburg Water, as well as the lack of empathy and insight from Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda.
A kind word, an acknowledgement of what is going on and a plan of action would restore control and reassure us. We are not getting this, and were it not for our ward councillors, we would have absolutely no hope. We can only pray that water will come back at some stage.
- Judith Simon
At least my conscience is clean
No water for over 10 days might be the straw that breaks our backs. My anxiety is fuelled by the feeling of hopelessness. My anger is provoked by powerlessness and deep injustice.
I work hard. I pay tax through my nose. I faithfully pay my rates. Finances are tight because the government takes a sizeable portion. I get very, very little in return. My upstanding action is the source of income for the corrupt.
At least my conscience is clean, unlike our bodies and homes.
- K Sparks
We are living out of buckets
I am writing to you with regard to water outages in the Johannesburg CBD, specifically at the Dadabhay property.
Tenants have to fill water from surrounding areas as the water tanker assigned to the area is too far out. Johannesburg Water has been to the property approximately 10 times so far and has promised to resolve the matter each time.
The block gets water for a few hours late at night or in the early hours of the morning, while residents are still asleep.
Residents have spoken to two gentlemen who claim to be ward councillors of the area, however, 70 days later, we are still living out of buckets of water in the CBD.
We, as residents, have exhausted all our resources in trying to get Johannesburg Water to do repairs, but the utility insists that it does not know where the problem is.
- Resident of Dadabhay Family Property Investments
Water shedding already under way
I live in Lenasia South Extension 1 and, over the past few years, we have been experiencing "water shedding" twice daily.
Every day from 02:00 to 05:00 and again from 14:00 to 17:00 we have no water.
As a teacher, this poses a problem because there is no water from the time I get home until the family gets home, which makes cooking a challenge.
There is a reservoir that was built but has not been operational since the big "hoo haa" that was its opening ceremony.
- Yasmin Sadar
It is sad to see Johannesburg brought to its knees
I live in Kensington, where we have been without water for at least five days. For several months we've only had water from 10:00 to about 15:00 each day.
When I leave for work, there is no water. When I come home, there is no water.
Water supply was not a problem before load shedding. Another headache is the reporting of burst water pipes.
It takes about a week for a burst pipe to be repaired, and the work they do is so bad that the leak continues as before.
But the worst is not having water to flush toilets and for general hygiene; we are bound to get a cholera outbreak.
The risk of losing your house or business to a fire is also much higher as there is no water to fight fires.
It's sad to see Johannesburg being brought to its knees, from what was once a beautiful city to what is now essentially a slum.
- Detlef Grutgen
Being without water is the rule
I am a resident of Westdene. Being without water has become the rule rather than the exception. We are without water or only receive water for a part of the day at least once a month.
I keep containers of water on hand because I don't know when the taps will run dry.
Whenever the area is without water for some time, I receive water much later than others because I live on a hill. Sometimes we don't get the water back at all and have to ask our councillor to intervene.
The area has become overcrowded by legal and illegal communes that ignore requests to use water sparingly.
The Hursthill system, which supplies us, is constantly critical to empty and low inflow is not investigated or given priority.
Unconfirmed stories among residents are that the reservoir has cracks and therefore cannot be completely filled.
If that's the case, why is it not addressed?
Our councillors post daily updates from Johannesburg Water, which are mostly copied and pasted from the previous day. The nonchalant wording of the reports make it clear that the utility could not be bothered to address the root of the problem.
Meetings are arranged with the mayor who doesn't show up, leaving councillors open to abuse from residents.
We are living under unnecessary stress and cannot plan a daily routine, and ablutions are a nightmare.
- Deon de Lange
Is this our new normal?
I am a single mom trying to get through life. As a teacher, I'm on a tight budget.
We have load shedding and Blairgowrie is an area where we never get our power back on time. There have been endless issues and we have gone days and days without power.
Now, we find ourselves in a new predicament. We have not had water for 10 days.
Eleven days of laundry piling up, dishes overflowing, hands unwashed; no showers or baths, no clean water to fill bottles with, no water for cooking or drinking; sewage clogging the pipes.
Water tankers have been scarce, and we use WhatsApp groups to track their location.
We have councillors trying desperately to remedy the situation, but their messages are concerning as they suggest that no one knows what is really going on.
There have been promises and commitments but here we sit, with no water still.
From what I can decipher from the messages, we would be lucky to have water by the end of the week.
That will mean nearly two weeks without water. Is this the new norm?
I had to get solar to deal with power outages. Must I now get a Jojo tank and fill it privately? What is happening to service delivery?
I can't afford all this. I feel like our neighbourhood is taking a huge hit.
I must give a shout-out to great community spirit and the help they have afforded, but that is not enough.
- Kerryn Schmidt
A lack of understanding about service delivery
I am a resident of Blairgowrie and have not had any water since 3 March. In the beginning of this water outage the communication was that once the Eikenhof Pump Station was resolved, water would be restored. Yet, we soon realised this was not going to be the case.
Last June, Johannesburg Water had a planned outage and we were the last supply system to come back on.
Therefore the weakness of the pumping system to make it uphill has been known for a while.
The excuse back then was that there were pipe bursts affecting the system.
Now, water is simply not making it through the system at all.
Neighbours down the road have said they have a few drops or low pressure, but we have remained without water.
Every time I email Johannesburg Water to ask for an update, I receive a new reference number or simply no response. The responses on X (formerly known as Twitter) have also been lacking.
Until 9 March, there were no tankers in the area, only in the Randburg CBD. One tanker at any given time.
While the tankers have been more frequent recently, there is still no sign of water from our taps, after authorities said they were working on the system.
Reading the mayor's statement in the media was disheartening and a sign of a lack of understanding service delivery.
He said he condemns a rate boycott because it is the intentional bringing down of a system (regardless of the fact that there is no service delivery to begin with, which clearly means the administration no longer functions).
He further stated that the public must come up with solutions. Is this perhaps an acknowledgement of service delivery failure? What solution does he intend?
- Ildiko Gyarmati
This was not caused by hot weather
Please be advised that it's been over 10 days since we had water in Ferndale and this is no longer funny. I'm not happy about this.
I have two kids. One is 15 and the younger one is only 9 months old. How are we expected to survive? What about hygiene? There are lots of germs in the house and I'm struggling to cook for my family and to prepare formula for my 9-month-old.
Even in retail shops, there's no water. They only have flavoured water, just imagine.
We haven't done laundry since last week. This is a very bad experience for us.
They tell us that "the hot weather condition is causing this outage" but we all know that's not true. Hot weather is everywhere, but we are the only ones affected.
It looks as though this is due to faulty infrastructure caused by negligence.
- Sihle Masuku
The infrastructure is useless
Imagine growing up with your basic human needs being met and then one day you wake up expecting to have water for a bath, shower or to keep your home clean only to discover that not a drop is coming out of your tap - and this goes on for the next eight months and counting.
My kids and I are residents Vrededorp. We have been without water for eight months now.
It is soul-destroying to live without water for this long. Our community is dusty, dirty and downright disgusting.
Despite several protests from residents, nothing has been done to address our pleas for a resolution.
Many underprivileged elderly who live in old age homes have to spend their pensions on paying people to collect water for them. Sadly, many elderly individuals have been injured while collecting water from water trucks.
I constantly rely on friends and family for a place to shower or bathe. How is this fair? Why is this happening while infrastructure is sitting idle? What about those who have no one to depend on for help?
It is frustrating and deeply disappointing that we are left without water and answers.
This is an SOS ... If there are any aliens out there, please come fetch us and take us to a planet that has water.
- Shouneez Ismail
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