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Many areas in Gauteng continue to struggle with intermittent water supply. Picture: iStock
Residents in parts of Northern Johannesburg are now battling empty taps after enduring five days of power outages.
The water supply disruption comes as Johannesburg Water confirmed that a City Power outage has impacted the Northcliff Pump Station and tower, halting water pumping to several areas.
“As a result of the power outage, there is currently no pumping, which will lead to water supply disruptions as the Northcliff tower is low.”
The water shortage affects multiple neighborhoods including Northcliff and its extensions 1-3, 6-8, 12, 14, 15, 25, and 30-32, as well as Waterval Estate, Waterval Estate extension 5, Greymont, and Valeriedene.
According to Joburg Water, residents in these areas “will experience poor pressure to no flow during this period.”
The utility provided no estimated restoration time, stating only that “pumping will resume once power is restored.”
The water crisis comes after five days of persistent electricity problems in Fairlands and other parts of northern Johannesburg.
Reports from local councillors indicate that power issues have severely impacted infrastructure, homes, businesses, and service delivery throughout the region.
On Sunday morning, a local councillor Zander Shawe, expressed frustration with the ongoing situation.
“I finally got hold of the Team leader on the ground in Fairland. They are busy in the area, as per communication on various platforms from City Power, there are 13 load centres off.”
Shawe said the teams on the ground could not access the areas where the damage was “due to they being locked or in properties that are not accessible at night.”
“If they could have had power, it would have been restored already. They are busy and the operators are on their way, where by they will go to each load centre,” Shawe added.
Despite these assurances, residents were still reporting outages on Sunday afternoon, with no resolution in sight.
City Power received more than 5,000 calls over 24 hours during the weekend, with more than 100 power plants out of service across the metropolitan area.
ALSO READ: Joburg power crisis: Over 100 plants offline across Joburg
Compounding the crisis, Johannesburg Water announced additional planned water shutoffs in Sandton as part of what they describe as “ongoing water demand management initiatives.”
“As part of water demand management efforts, Johannesburg Water will be closing the Sandton meters tomorrow, Sunday, 9 March 2025, from 18:00 until 05:00 Monday morning.”
The utility claims these measures are designed to ensure balanced water distribution to struggling systems throughout Johannesburg Water’s network, and will ultimately benefit customers through “improved service delivery”.
The Sandton shutdown will affect multiple areas including:
“The Linbro Park and Marlboro direct feeds will be affected the most during these interventions, and all customers fed by the Sandton System may experience poor pressure to no water overnight,” Johannesburg Water explained.
These planned maintenance activities come at a particularly challenging time for the city, which appears to be “strained to near collapse under the weight of water and electricity issues,” according to local observers.
NOW READ: Water supply disruptions: Here’s which Johannesburg areas are affected
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