Water crisis continues as maintenance delays relief

Water outages persist despite the Vaal Dam level increasing after heavy rain earlier this month.

In Tshwane, Waterkloof, Brooklyn and Menlo Park experienced interruptions after maintenance to repair burst pipes, while supply problems to the Muckleneuk reservoir affected surrounding areas such as Brooklyn, Colbyn, Hatfield, Menlo and Hillcrest.

For now, Rand Water has completed the scheduled maintenance work, said Rand Water spokesperson Makenosi Maroo.

Rand Water completes maintenance in Tshwane

“Areas are getting water but there might be few areas still dry, especially low-lying areas that are still yet to recover fully,” she added.

Residents in Nellmapius and Olievenhoutbosch also reported taps running dry on the city’s social media pages, with some claiming to be without water for four days.

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SA must save water daily – not just in summer, WaterCAN’s Dr Ferrial Adam said.

“Many reservoirs in Johannesburg are leaking and are not storing enough water. That’s why we need to use water sparingly.”

Adams called on residents to adhere to water restrictions that were into effect until March and urged all to use water sparingly.

Call for CoJ to triple water budget

WaterCAN and the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) submitted a petition to the City of Joburg, urging the municipality to triple the water budget amid an escalating crisis.

City of Joburg spokesperson Mzwandile Khathi confirmed the speaker, Nobuhle Mthembu, received the petition during the Save Joburg Summit on Saturday.

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“The petition, signed by over 3 500 residents, calls for urgent action to address the city’s water infrastructure challenges.

“WaterCAN has requested that it be tabled before the budget steering committee and presented at the first council meeting to discuss adjustments to the existing Joburg Water budget,” he said.

Khati said among its proposals is an increase in Joburg Water’s capital expenditure budget to R3 billion per annum for the next three financial years for critical capital projects.

Petition submitted

“We will submit the petition to the petitions committee.”

Khati said the concerns raised highlighted the need for decisive and urgent action to address water infrastructure challenges in the city.

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