Johannesburg Water Announces 72-Hour Water Shutdown
Johannesburg Water has reminded residents of an impending 72-hour water shutdown scheduled to begin Friday night, December 6, and last until Monday evening, December 9.
The water outage falls part of an ongoing infrastructure upgrade and will allow the installation of four new isolating valves at the Hector Norris pump station.
Areas Affected by the Shutdown
The water supply will be completely disrupted in the following areas, with all streets impacted:
- Johannesburg CBD
- Newtown
- Selby
- Jeppestown
- Doornfontein
- Forest Hill
- Turffontein
- Rosettenville
- La Rochelle
- Turf Club
In addition to the current shutdown, Johannesburg Water has announced a second, longer outage set to take place from December 13 at 7:00 until December 16.
This 86-hour interruption is required for maintenance work at the Eikenhof and Zwartkopjes pump stations.
The planned duration of this outage has drawn criticism from various quarters.
Nicole van Dyk, the Democratic Alliance (DA) Johannesburg Shadow MMC for Infrastructure, has labeled the extended shutdown “ridiculous” and demanded that Rand Water reconsider.
“This maintenance is an indication of poor planning and utter mismanagement. In the past, similar maintenance has taken up to two weeks to recover, even with additional water being supplied to stabilise the system.”
Calls for Postponement
The Water Community Action Network (WaterCAN) has also called for the postponement of the 86-hour shutdown.
Executive Manager of WaterCAN, Ferrial Adam, highlighted the impact of recent water shortages and the strain on affected communities.
“While we recognise the importance of maintenance to preserve infrastructure, the timing of this shutdown couldn’t be worse. Many communities are still reeling from recent water shortages and protests.”
Both organisations emphasised the need for Johannesburg Water and Rand Water to reconsider their scheduling to minimise disruptions for residents during the holiday season.