Joburg may face thirsty festive

As Christmas inches closer and the heatwave gets worse, Joburg Water says it can't guarantee there won't be any water supply interruptions this festive season.

“This is because there are issues such as burst pipes that occur which are unplanned. However, Johannesburg Water does assure residents that the entity endeavours to respond to service delivery issues as timeously as possible,” said spokesperson Nolwazi Dhlamini.

For many Turfontein residents, having water constantly coming out of their taps is a pipe dream as they have been grappling with intermittent water supply since the beginning of the year.

Speaking to Sowetan, some residents said they had gone a week without water and would not be surprised if they spend Christmas with dry taps.

Inconsistencies of water takers in the area, having to pay for the water they don't get as well as the inconvenience of not being able to adhere to a strict hygiene regimen were other issues that added to their frustrations. “My bill [for water] would come up to R1,000 and yet I didn’t have water for half of the month. I pay for that but I also buy water because the tankers are unreliable," said resident Casper Sibanda. 

“We see leaking pipes in the streets, the water is flowing down the street but we don’t have water in our taps and we are suffering. Our children can’t bath, you can’t cook. I won’t be shocked if they were to say there’s no water during Christmas.”  

While the city has provided water tankers to the area,   another resident, Lorraine Makgethe, said they were inconsistent, and that it was frustrating her. “I am at work when they come, and that’s if they are coming. We would go days without seeing one. Sometimes it’s like a shock when one comes by and people would flood them with their buckets,” she said.

“There was once a time when we went close to a whole month without water. I mean, half of the year was spent with me saying to my children, 'There’s no water’. Imagine a family of four bathing with water from a 2l bottle. My son gets out of the tub and I bathe with the water he bathed in. Not only is it unfair but it’s also costly. In a day, I refill five 2l bottles for R10 at least three times, and then we're still expected to pay the water bill?”

Joburg Water attributes the water crisis to ageing infrastructure, financial constraints and population growth.

While areas like Turfontein are the worst hit, others like Brixton and Crown Gardens have to contend with intermittent schedules.

A Brixton businessman who asked to remain anonymous said they had received information from the councillor that they should expect no water in this coming weekend.

“The councillor sent it in the group chat that the entire weekend there would be no water. Now I have to go collect water in buckets from my home where I have a jojo tank and bring it to the restaurant,” he said.

The man, who sells fast food, said the water issue was affecting his business negatively.

“This water situation has been a problem because at some point I had inspectors asking why I had water in buckets, listing that as unsanitary. I told them I don’t have a choice because there was no water and they suggested I close on days like that. However, I can't; this is my income," he said.

Earlier this week, Joburg Water CEO Ntshavheni Mukwevho said the city faced a backlog of R27bn for infrastructure upgrades and needs R3.1bn annually for the next decade.

The water entity has since proposed solutions such as repairing leaking reservoirs, building new facilities and tackling illegal water connections to deal with the crisis.

According to Joburg Water, there are about 42 leaking reservoirs identified but only 11 are undergoing repairs.

Meanwhile, in Turffontein, a 17-year-old boy carrying two buckets and a 2l container in a wheelbarrow he filled at a nearby warehouse, said to fill up one container cost R20 and he made at least five trips a day.

He said he lived with his mother and four brothers on the fifth floor of a multi-storey building that has no lift. “My mother doesn't make enough for us to have to go up and down and give the warehouse R20 five times. "Sometimes we don't bathe, we don't even flush the toilet. I want water during Christmas so that it's easier for my family, especially my mother. Let us have water,” said the boy.

Asked what was behind Turffontein's water issues, Dhlamini said she was not aware of the situation.

"Please provide more information that we can provide to the depot and they can investigate the matter. Please provide the reference numbers for the calls logged by the customers who are struggling with water supply, as well as street names and addresses so that the depot can have sufficient information to investigate," she said.

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