Johannesburg areas to face 19-hour water outage on Friday

Johannesburg Water teams will conduct maintenance, resulting in a 19-hour shutdown. 

The maintenance will start at 6:00 on Friday, 14 February until 1:00 on Saturday, 15 February.

JOHANNESBURG WATER TO CONDUCT MAINTENANCE IN LENASIA

Johannesburg Water said its teams will be repairing a leaking bypass pipe on the F33 pipeline.

There will be no water during the maintenance, and an alternative supply will be provided should the repair work last longer than 24 hours.  

All the streets in the following suburbs will be affected:

• Lenasia all extensions
• Lenasia South
• Thembelihle
• Zakariya Park
• Lehae
• Vlakfontein
• Fine Town
• Migson Manor
• Meriting

DA LAYS COMPLAINT WITH THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION

The planned maintenance comes as the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng laid a formal complaint against Johannesburg Water at the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) for the ongoing water crisis in Johannesburg.

The DA said residents have struggled with erratic water supply, and some have been completely without water for up to three weeks. Residents try to cope with the trickle that flows at night, or they chase the few water tankers that are around.

In 2024, Johannesburg Water started implementing water throttling to manage water systems and consumption. as supply levels continue to dwindle. Additionally, Rand Water, the utility responsible for providing water to the Gauteng region, has confirmed that reservoir levels have dropped from 70% to below 40% since last month.

DA leader in Johannesburg, Jack Bloom, said the Johannesburg Council is in breach of Section 27 (1) (b) of the Constitution, which ensures everyone has the right to sufficient water.

Bloom said they handed in hundreds of testimonials from residents about the hardship of water shortages, including difficulties in keeping clean, flushing toilets, preparing food, the effect on families looking after babies and sick people, illnesses picked up, and the extra expense for households and businesses.

“The SAHRC needs to hold Johannesburg Council accountable and ensure immediate relief for residents affected by 28 out of 61 reservoirs and towers that are critically low or completely empty.

“The DA Gauteng calls on the provincial government to declare a disaster and urgently assist embattled residents with extra water tankers while addressing the underlying causes of the persistent water crisis,” Bloom said.