Rabia Mayet | rabiamayet@radioislam.co.za

20 August 2026

2-minute read

Months after the City of Johannesburg allocated R49million towards a water infrastructure initiative, residents of the Patsing informal settlement in Lenasia remain fully without reliable tap water.

Construction ground to a standstill when short-term workers’ contracts expired and water delivery trucks stopped delivering water when they had their contracts terminated.

In an interview with Ml Sulaimaan Ravat, John Moeketsi Leballo deputy chairperson of the Patsing Executive Committee in Lenasia, Johannesburg, spoke out on stalled municipal water projects and water delivery shortages affecting residents. He said that “the water has never been sufficient for residents,” even when water tanker trucks were dispatched to the area. For 3 months now, residents have had no access to water.

Upon enquiry, John stated that the response is always the same: Joburg Water has not paid the contractors and the contractors in turn have not paid the workers. Patsing residents are in the process of engaging with one of the contractors, and once the petition is signed, they have been promised water delivery. Until payments are made, “unfortunately, we have to suffer on the ground,” said John, despite the City being allocated a budget for water.

But residents are no longer prepared to live with the situation. “Politicising things that are not supposed to be politicised” will further complicate the issue. The community needs to engage without political involvement to find a solution so that their rights are not infringed, John emphasized, before engaging with the different political parties.

Listen to the full interview with Ml Sulaimaan Ravat and John Moeketsi Leballo here.