The City of Joburg’s SAP system is currently off-line, and residents are struggling to log calls as a result. This puts increased pressure on departments, including Joburg Water, experiencing an influx in calls to their small call centre.
A resident expressed his frustration at not being able to reach the entity when an underground pipe burst and caused water to gush out for more than four days on Edward Street in Kensington B.
Resident Ivan Green shared his concern about the volume of water that was wasted.
“We’ve lost 40–50 thousand litres of water per minute due to this and the water pressure in our homes was low.”
Green said he struggled to report the matter. “I’ve tried to get hold of Joburg Water but there was no answer. I stayed on the call for more than five minutes but no luck.”
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Joburg Water marketing and communication officer Nolwazi Dhlamini said the issues with the SAP system had a domino effect on them.
“This is causing a huge influx of calls that come through daily to Johannesburg Water’s small call centre team, who is dealing with a backlog of calls and SMSs. Residents may not have their calls answered immediately. The entity prioritises every call and SMS received and requests that residents are patient when logging calls.”
Dhlamini added that the city’s ageing infrastructure causes frequent pipe bursts and leaks. “This inevitably leads to a backlog of repair work. Our technical teams work around the clock to attend to water pipe repairs in the city.”
City spokesperson Stan Maphologela confirmed that the City of Johannesburg is conducting a database maintenance exercise from
March 4–21. “This is necessary for improved end-to-end business processing and customer satisfaction. While the exercise is ongoing, there may be some impact on integrating Pikitup, Joburg Water, and City Power.”
Dhlamini urged residents to follow Johannesburg Water on social media channels to stay up to date. “We also share water-saving tips on our daily alerts for planned and unplanned interruptions. Residents are requested to observe Level-1 water restrictions.”
Level-1 water restrictions prohibit the use of hosepipes to water gardens, wash cars, clean driveways, as well as to fill up swimming pools and water features between 6:00 and 18:00.
“Instead, residents are encouraged to use grey water to water their gardens, clean driveways and wash their cars. This is to ensure that systems are kept stable throughout the coming months.”
Dhlamini also urged residents to report any form of vandalism and theft of water infrastructure to 0800 00 25 87.
Johannesburg Water channels that residents can use to log calls:
- Twitter: @JHBWater
- Facebook: Johannesburg Water
- 24-hour hotline: 011 688 1699/ 086 056 2874
- SMS line: 45201
- Email: customer@jwater.co.za
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