Johannesburg Water is imploring residents to not obstruct the entity’s efforts to ensure continuous water supply during the Rand Water shutdown. This comes after residents in some affected areas, such as Soweto and the Langlaagte region, obstructed Johannesburg Water tankers from entering the areas.
In the Langlaagte region, community members had blocked off water tankers from entering, however the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) has since been called to the scene to assist.
Blocking off the entity’s water trucks only amplifies the already existing water shortages and causes delays in providing water to community members. Johannesburg Water had also noted increased turnaround times for refilling water tankers at filling points, however the entity is working at mitigating these challenges. Furthermore, while the frustration of residents is understandable, Johannesburg Water pleads with community members not to approach critical sites such as hospitals and clinics to get water as this drastically reduces the health facilities’ water supply.
Johannesburg Water continues to redeploy water trucks from the Daleside system -where normal supply has been restored – to areas that are still critical, such as the Roodepoort/Randburg and Southdale regions.
As at Thursday morning, the following progress has been made:
Zwartkopjes Booster Pump Station (Johannesburg South and CBD): Work was completed at Zwartkopjes according to schedule and pumping has resumed. The Rand Water system should start recovering, after which the Johannesburg Water will also commence with recovery.
Eikenhof Booster Pump Station (greater Randburg / Roodepoort areas): The Randburg/Roodepoort system is empty as the reservoirs that supply the region, including the Waterval 2 and Weltevreden reservoirs, are empty.
Eikenhof Booster Pump Station (Soweto, South of Johannesburg and Lenasia): The Soweto and Lenasia systems are critically low to empty. Therefore, there is a high demand for alternative water supply. Hence Johannesburg Water is pleading with residents to allow water trucks to service their areas.
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