{"id":103651,"date":"2026-02-10T20:32:27","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T18:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=103651"},"modified":"2026-02-10T20:32:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T18:32:27","slug":"joburg-water-crisis-committee-urges-national-disaster-declaration-and-urgent-leak-repairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/joburg-water-crisis-committee-urges-national-disaster-declaration-and-urgent-leak-repairs\/","title":{"rendered":"Joburg water crisis: Committee urges national disaster declaration and urgent leak repairs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a>
\n3-minute read
\n09 February 2026<\/p>\n

\"\"

Protesters gathered outside Joburg Water on Sunday, 8 February, urging authorities to declare Johannesburg\u2019s water crisis a national disaster. (Photo: Water Crisis Committee)<\/p><\/div>\n

Johannesburg\u2019s escalating water crisis has left many residents without running water for more than a week, while others continue using water for non-essential purposes such as filling swimming pools.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Radio Islam International,<\/em><\/a> Ravin Singh from the Joburg Water Crisis Committee said declaring the situation a national disaster would not deliver immediate relief, but could force stronger coordination between government spheres.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou won\u2019t see immediate results. This is a long-term fix,\u201d Singh said, adding that water supply problems are being felt across the country, with communities facing \u201cwater cut-offs, throttling, and a whole range of problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Singh explained that Johannesburg\u2019s water challenges have been decades in the making, largely due to rapid population growth and underinvestment in infrastructure. \u201cIn 1996, the city had about 2.6 million people. Today\u2026 anywhere between 5.5 million to 6 million,\u201d he said, noting that the city has effectively doubled in size within 30 years.<\/p>\n

While service delivery has expanded, Singh said infrastructure planning has not kept pace with demand. \u201cWhen we talk about today\u2019s water crisis, we\u2019re also talking about decades of underinvestment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Singh believes a national disaster declaration could reduce political blame-shifting. \u201cNational government is no more blaming local government and local government is no more blaming national government. We start to work together and confront this problem together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

However, Singh stressed that residents must also play a role by reducing consumption. He said Johannesburg residents use between 250 and 300 litres per person per day<\/strong>, far above global averages. \u201cGlobally the average is closer to 170 litres per day. London\u2026 140. Berlin\u2026 120,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At the same time, he acknowledged public frustration, especially as the city reportedly loses up to 56% of its water to leaks<\/strong>. \u201cThere\u2019s no point increasing supply\u2026 when you have 56% leak. It\u2019s like pouring water into a sieve,\u201d Singh said.<\/p>\n

While water tankers remain the main emergency response, Singh said they are not a sustainable solution. \u201cWe stand opposed to water tankers as a long-term solution,\u201d he said, adding that residents often rely on them during extended outages.<\/p>\n

He also warned that inequality is deepening the crisis. Poorer households cannot afford JoJo tanks, while those with storage often capture water first, leaving high-lying areas without supply. \u201cIt\u2019s like the survival of the fittest,\u201d Singh said.<\/p>\n

Singh said the completion of the Lesotho Highlands Phase 2 project, expected by 2028 or 2029<\/strong>, may improve supply but will not solve Johannesburg\u2019s crisis unless leaks are fixed and water restrictions are introduced through proper consultation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to change our relationship with water,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full interview on The Daily Round-Up<\/em> <\/a>with Moulana Habib Bobat and Ravin Singh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read 09 February 2026 Johannesburg\u2019s escalating water crisis has left many residents without running water for more than a week, while others continue using water for non-essential purposes such as filling swimming pools. Speaking to Radio Islam International, Ravin Singh from the Joburg Water Crisis Committee said declaring the situation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":103652,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WaterCommittee_756271_945430.jpeg?fit=1280%2C780&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-qXN","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-06 15:59:42","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}