About three weeks ago, sewage began running down our street. A call was lodged with the municipality, and days later, a Johannesburg Water crew arrived.
After a brief inspection, they advised that we needed permission from the owner of the empty plot next door, as the leak was coming from that property.
When the owner was eventually found, somewhere in Trumpland, the Johannesburg Water team was nowhere to be seen. We later learnt they had embarked on a “go-slow”. Even after the dispute was resolved, no one has attended to our sewage problem.
“The main cause of our water problems is not high consumption — it is incompetence and corruption.” — Sibongakonke Shoba
A few months ago, a PikitUp worker refused to collect bins outside our gate, suggesting that someone needed to pay a “cool drink” to entice them to do their job.
Last week, DJ Fresh posted a photo of a burst pipe gushing thousands — if not millions — of litres of water not too far from my neighbourhood. The matter had been reported, but no one from Johannesburg Water came to fix it. Only the Lord knows if that leak has been repaired.
One thing is clear: citizens are losing patience with the government’s nonchalant response to service delivery failures. Residents of Emmarentia, Parkhurst, Melville, and surrounding areas took to the streets on Wednesday.
In Johannesburg South, more residents picketed on Xavier Bridge along the N12 yesterday. These demonstrations highlight how dire the situation has become. Some of these areas have been without running water for the past 25 days.
We know about this because it was reported in the media. Black townships have been experiencing worse problems for years — but their plight does not make news unless they block roads with burning tyres or cause a ruckus. In some rural parts of the country, running water remains a pipe dream.
In Johannesburg, the water problem is far more widespread than what we see reported in the media. Power outages stretch from Orange Farm to parts of Soweto, Johannesburg South, central Johannesburg, and all the way to Midrand.
Officials claim that water demand during these hot summer days exceeds available capacity, urging customers to reduce consumption. But we know the main cause of our water problems is not high consumption — it is incompetence and corruption.
For years, Rand Water and Johannesburg Water have left infrastructure to deteriorate. Leaks reported daily by residents are not attended to with urgency, leading to the system losing millions of litres of water.
As a result, more areas should prepare for life without water as the government plans to introduce restrictions across metros to relieve pressure on Rand Water’s system.
“Following an assessment by the minister, we agreed that, as an immediate intervention to restore supply in areas without water and to prevent the system from collapsing, we would implement soft water restrictions,” said deputy water and sanitation minister David Mahlobo during a visit to Emmarentia.
“These soft restrictions will apply only in areas where the system is still providing water, because those are the areas receiving supply,” he said.
That means if you still have water in your tap, prepare for reduced pressure — or none at all.
This all points to poor planning and mismanagement by municipalities and other entities. We have been failed by the very people we entrusted with power.
Mahlobo and his fellow politicians deserved the hostile reception they received from protesters in Emmarentia. Dry taps are more than an inconvenience — they are a matter of life and death.
In other areas, water cuts have been linked to corruption schemes, where officials or businessmen sabotage the system by switching off valves so the government will procure water tankers. The “water tanker mafia” phenomenon is so widespread that suspicions arise whenever areas go weeks without running water.
The question is: who benefits from this crisis? DA mayoral candidate Helen Zille suggests it is tenderpreneurs who secure contracts, do shoddy work, and then get called back repeatedly. She argues the tanker mafia will also profit handsomely.
But Zille’s presence at the picket lines is not purely out of concern for Joburg residents. While she may be affected as a new resident of Emmarentia, the crisis offers her and the DA an opportunity to present themselves as an alternative to the bumbling ANC mayor, Dada Morero. But Joburg residents should not be fooled, as even the DA-run Western Cape, including Cape Town, has introduced water restrictions.
We will have an opportunity to choose new leaders later this year. Even if a solution to the water crisis is found in the coming days, we need hard-working, honest leaders with integrity and foresight to prevent such a crisis in future.
Sowetan
