Power and water outages bruise Joburg businesses with mounting losses

Days without a reliable water supply, a reliance on tankers for the precious liquid, hundreds of rand spent on petrol and diesel for generators, and mounting business losses have become part of daily life for some Johannesburg residents.

Service delivery failures in the city have intensified following a substation explosion and a strike by workers at Joburg Water.

In recent weeks, households and small businesses across the city have been forced to absorb additional costs just to survive, despite paying rates and taxes meant to guarantee basic services.

A repair shop owner on Harrison Street, Khakhi Takem, said since Friday’s Bree Street substation transformer fire, he has spent R550 a day for fuel for his generator.

Takem pays more than R10,000 rent a month, which he worries he won’t be able to meet in February.

“I might lose more customers and won’t be making any profit, and the money that is coming in is just going to keep the shop running with a generator,” he said.

City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the utility has made significant progress in clearing the burnt transformer from the Bree Street site, with power expected to be restored by the end of the week.

“Our technicians continue to work around the clock under strict safety conditions to restore supply as soon as possible, and earlier restorations remain the goal where feasible,” he said.

The incident affected parts of Bree Street West, Marshalltown, and the Johannesburg CBD, including Rahima Moosa Street.

A print shop owner said he has lost R3,000 a day since Friday.

“More than R300 is spent on a generator to keep the lights on, but that is not even enough because it can’t keep the printers on or power all the computers,” he said.

In Emmarantia, residents claimed to have struggled with an inconsistent water supply for more than four years.

Yesterday, they said they had been without water for over a week.

When Sowetan visited the area, a water tanker had just arrived, and residents were collecting water in containers.

While the water tanker was welcomed, many residents complained that it came at an inconvenient time because many people were at work.

Sumaya Motala, an Emmarentia resident and business owner, said: “We have had water outages for the past four years due to the Hurst Hill reservoir, which has a crack in it and has not been repaired.

“Currently, we are on day 10 of the current water outage. As a resident, I have not been affected as much as I have a borehole at home, but as a business owner, especially as someone in the food industry, it is horrifying because we have to bring in 40 to 50 20-litre buckets daily, as usage at a minimum is about 1,000 litres to keep hygiene levels on standard,” she said.

Motlala said the city has not been consistent in communicating to the community what the actual problem is.

“Initially, we were told it was an infrastructure problem, then a Rand Water and Joburg Water problem. Yesterday we were told that some of Joburg Water staff are on strike. So we are as completely in the dark as everyone as to where our water is,” she said.

Joburg Water apologised to residents for the inconvenience caused by the strike, which it said halted service delivery affecting multiple areas.

ANC regional spokesperson Mantombi Nkosi said: “We are still engaging with Joburg Water, trying to understand what the crisis is and what they are currently doing to resolve the issue.”

Residents from Emmarentia, Melville, Westdene and Midrand are set to protest today to demand water.

Ahmad Hassan said having no water meant limited baths and an inability to do laundry or maintain good hygiene.

“For the last 10 days we have lived on takeouts because we can’t cook; the water from the tankers won’t be enough to cook, clean, do the dishes and use toilets.

“I had to rent a bigger car for R1,300 a week to be able to carry water buckets from the tanker to our house.”

The water from the tankers won’t be enough to cook, clean, do the dishes and use toilets.

—  Emmarentia resident Ahmad Hassan

Mayoral spokesperson Khathutshelo Mulaudzi said just a week ago the city’s “bomb squad” intervened in the water challenges faced by residents in areas such as Melville, Parkhurst, Dunkeld and Benmore.

She said the “bomb squad” remains an integral part of the oversight and rapid response of the executive mayor. Mulaudzi said the water and sanitation department, together with Gauteng municipalities and Rand Water, were working daily to deal with the water crisis.

“These engagements focus on jointly discussing system constraints, operational challenges, and practical ways to mitigate ongoing water-supply pressures affecting our municipalities,” she said.

Sowetan