Many communities don’t have water, and the Minister blames the people for using too much water. This makes no sense when all the evidence shows that we are losing water through leaks because the pipes are not being fixed and maintained.
Government is failing to maintain its water infrastructure. Communities are forced to live without water for as many as five days a week. Children are put in danger, sent to fetch water far away, and sometimes have to skip school.
Communities across Gauteng shared their frustrations during a meeting held by various community and civil society organisations in Johannesburg South Freedom Park on 17 January 2025.
“In Eikenhof, shacks were burned down, and we had to watch a child burn to death because we had no water. We are in such a terrible state in our area that you see children ages three to five years sent far away to fetch water carrying five-litre bottles”.
It is widely reported that the water infrastructure in the City of Johannesburg is ancient, on the verge of collapse [1], and urgently needs to be replaced. The problems associated with the City’s failure to maintain its infrastructure have resulted in reports that the City of Johannesburg loses up to 45% of its water in leaks [2]. This is even though most reports often place this percentage at 35%. University of Johannesburg-based water scientist Kyle van Heyde argues that most data that places water loss at 35% is questionable and unverified. He adds that 35% – 45% losses would reflect a more honest view.
A survey of 12,100 kilometres of pipelines revealed that Johannesburg has about 6,727 leaking meters, 2,396 burst pipes, 442 leaking valves, and 259 leaking fire hydrants [3]. The leakages are so harmful that during dry seasons, streams such as the Klip River and Juskei River have been found to contain a higher content of municipal cleaned and treated piped water [4]. That’s just Johannesburg, Tshwane, and Ekurhuleni are facing similar issues.
Why is this important?
Communities should not be burying their children, nor should they have to live harsh lives without a water supply for so long.
Communities like Freedom Park reported at the same meeting on 17 January that they sometimes have to go far on foot at night to fetch water for their needs. They complain that water trucks don’t go into all community sections and favour sections with Jojo tanks. These reports are worrying and indicate that mismanagement is at the core of the issue that causes communities to get the bitter end of the stick. Even more troubling, however, is that the City of Johannesburg is very slow in addressing these serious problems.
Mayors in Gauteng need to urgently fix the leaks often seen with piles of clean and treated water in holes and inflows. This means that the narrative that the water crisis is because communities are bridging water is untrue.
Decision-makers in government should not be allowed to promote the narrative that communities that use water for basic needs such as drinking, cooking, cleaning and bathing are wasting water.
We call on Mayors in Gauteng and Water Minister Majodina to:
Stop blaming communities and take accountability for your failures
We want the mayors and minister to give us a plan showing us when they will fix all the water leaks.
We want fortnightly updates detailing the process of fixing water leaks as well as the financial shortfall
Fix all leaking meters
Fix all burst pipes
Fix all leaking valves
Fixes all leaking fire hydrants
– Ensure the municipalities collect adequate revenue from sectors like mining and large-scale commercial agriculture that use large quantities of water for profit. Stricter regulations should also be in place for suburbs and golf courses that use tons of water to irrigate lawns and maintain swimming pools.
Low-income communities in informal settlements and townships bear the brunt of water cuts. They have had more water shedding than the suburbs and commercial companies, which needs to change.
Communities in Freedom Park, Slovo Park, Jackson, townships in the Vaal, Phumla Mqashi, and areas like Meadowlands, Fleurhof, Thembalihle, and more have decided to say enough is enough about the water issues they have been experiencing for years.
