Azra Hoosen | ah@radioislam.co.za
9 October 2024 | 09:00 CAT
2 min read

Half of Johannesburg’s water reservoirs are leaking, with Joburg Water planning to repair only 20 of the 42 affected. The city has 87 reservoirs in total, meaning about 50% are leaking, sparking concerns as a potential Day Zero approaches. WaterCAN, an initiative of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), is demanding more transparency and accountability from the city regarding its water infrastructure crisis.

Dr. Ferrial Adam, Executive Manager of WaterCAN, expressed frustration over the delayed disclosure of the leaks, despite civil society’s efforts to seek answers since October 2023. While the city’s acknowledgement of the leaks is a step forward, the limited repair plans are alarming, particularly as non-revenue water loss has reached 46.1%.

“We would have liked for them to disclose this sooner, but I think we are moving in the right direction now; they have released this information, and we need to work with it,” she said.

Joburg Water’s turnaround strategy highlights a phased repair plan with R30 million allocated for the first phase of a project estimated to cost R330 million.

Adam believes that Joburg Water is prioritising the worst-affected reservoirs. Of the 42 leaking reservoirs identified, 20 have leaks that exceed acceptable standards, making them the focus of immediate repair efforts.

Residents are already facing water restrictions and frequent outages, including a recent major break in the Honeydew water tower. The utility has introduced several initiatives, including smart meters and retrofitting smart-flow controllers on high-consumption reservoirs, but questions remain about the timeline, urgency, and funding for these projects.

Adam explained that fixing all the leaks at once isn’t feasible due to budget and staffing limitations. However, the main challenge is that many residents are going without water for days because the reservoirs aren’t filling up properly, which is contributing to the ongoing water shortages.

“We need to treat the leaks as a priority nationally, but eThekwini is also in a really bad situation with losing 52% of its water to leaks, so it has to be a national focus. We need to realise that going into summer, we have to start reusing, recycling, and saving water as ordinary people. To get ourselves out of the frustration, we need to look at ways to reuse water at home. Using as we have been using is going to create a situation where it is untenable in terms of water,” she said.

WaterCAN is calling for full transparency and improved communication to tackle the city’s water crisis.

LISTEN to the full interview with Muallimah Annisa Essack and Dr. Ferrial Adam, Executive Manager of WaterCAN, here.