Water crisis: Westbury residents shutdown area over lack of water supply

The Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) is monitoring a service delivery protest in Westbury, west of Johannesburg.

Residents took to the streets on Wednesday morning over water issues.

JMPD on the scene

JMPD spokesperson Xolani Fihla said officers are on the scene.

“The intersection of Perth Road and Harmony Street, impacting Westdene, Brixton, Coronation, and Westbury near Helen Joseph Hospital is currently barricaded off to traffic with burning tyres, rocks and debris due to process action in the area.

“It is understood that residents are aggrieved over prolonged water outages in the area. JMPD officers have been deployed, and the situation is calm despite the road closure,” Fihla said.

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Motorists are advised to exercise caution when travelling in the area, anticipate delays, and avoid the affected intersection.

Alternative routes include 4th Avenue, Thornton Road, Lewes Road in Westdene, Price Street in Newclare, and Industria West.

The Democratic Alliance’s Shadow Member of the Mayoral Committee for Environment, Infrastructure and Services, Nicole van Dyk told The Citizen on Wednesday morning that she was busy conducting an oversight visit with her team at the reservoir that supplies the area.

Rand Water warning

Rand Water had earlier issued a warning that water levels throughout Gauteng had significantly declined due to excessive consumption by municipalities.

“Rand Water has advised municipalities to reduce the physical losses of 33% identified in the No Drop report, repair leaks, enforce by-laws and address illegal connections,” said Rand Water spokesperson Makenosi Maroo.

“Unfortunately, the crisis we sought to prevent has now materialised. The water supply systems in Gauteng, including Rand Water reservoirs, are critically low, and the situation is anticipated to worsen with the ongoing heat wave,” she added.

Johannesburg Water stated on Monday that at least ten of its reservoirs were either low, depleted or at critical levels.

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