A pipe burst in Northcliff, early on Sunday morning, April 13, left many households without water, turning a routine municipal issue into a widespread crisis for the local community.
Initially treated as a standard repair, the situation quickly spiraled when Johannesburg Water’s (JW) repair team discovered a more significant issue beneath the surface. Although the initial leak was patched, it soon became evident that the suburb faced a larger infrastructural failure, leaving taps dry across the area by Sunday evening.
Read more: WATCH: Day 5 with no water for Northcliff residents
Ward 88 residents’ frustrations mounted as days passed with little to no water in their taps. Even though the situation has now been resolved, it left resident annoyed. Local engineer and Northcliff resident Gideon Heymans criticised the handling of the situation, highlighting concerns over the accuracy of the information provided by city officials.
“I was irritated with the amount of lies” Heymans said. “As an engineer, I know that dishonesty can delay root cause analysis, and lead to treating symptoms rather than the actual problem. The city is definitively on the wrong track.”
Also read: Johannesburgs ongoing water war
However, he praised residents in the area who provided a borehole to share for essential tasks, like: flushing the toilet, bathing, and washing laundry.
Heymans believes that, had a proper technical assessment been conducted on the first day, the problem could have been resolved – or at least properly managed – within 24 hours. “Even engineers sometimes treat symptoms instead of causes, especially when lacking practical experience,” he added.
For Irshad Sheik, the outage disrupted every aspect of daily life for his household. “We couldn’t flush toilets or take proper showers. Cleaning the house became nearly impossible,” he explained. “A typical day, during the outage, involved figuring out where my kids could bathe and how to secure enough water for the day.”
Though the city deployed water tankers, many residents, like Sheik, were unable to access them due to work commitments. In an effort to solve the problem independently, Sheik attempted to arrange a private water delivery, which required purchasing a JoJo tank. But logistical challenges arose due to access limitations at his residence. “Delivery vehicles refused to come because of the strain it would put on their trucks. The solution turned into another burden,” he said.
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