Leaking pipes and failing reservoirs deepen South Africa’s water crisis

Communities across South Africa are facing prolonged water outages as ageing infrastructure, leaking pipes and strained supply systems leave millions of litres of treated water going to waste. In Gauteng, the DA says Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni are losing about one billion litres a day through physical water losses, while parts of KwaZulu-Natal have endured nearly two weeks of disrupted supply.

The worsening shortages have exposed the pressure on municipal water systems, with Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni battling supply constraints and parts of Pinetown South in KwaZulu-Natal experiencing severe disruptions.

The crisis has renewed concerns about years of inadequate infrastructure maintenance, water losses and municipalities’ ability to manage growing demand.

Johannesburg Water said several systems, including Sandton, Midrand, Randburg, Roodepoort, Commando and Central, were experiencing supply constraints.

Midrand was particularly affected by poor incoming supply and high demand, with some systems receiving low volumes and others providing no water.

“Supply varies across the systems, with some supplying fairly, others supplying at low levels and some providing no water at all,” the entity said.

Technical teams from Johannesburg Water and bulk supplier Rand Water are assessing the affected systems and implementing interventions to improve supply.

The DA has warned that Gauteng is entering a period of what it calls “water-shedding”, accusing municipalities of restricting supply to prevent reservoirs from running dry.

DA water and sanitation spokesperson Stephen Moore said the party had received confirmation that Rand Water was throttling supply to Johannesburg after the city allegedly exceeded its allocation.

Moore cited the Department of Water and Sanitation’s October 30 dashboard, which he said showed overall Rand Water reservoir storage at 31.1%, against a target of 60%.

He said the Eikenhof system was at 7%, Zwartkopjes at 16%, Palmiet at 28% and Mapleton at 34%.

Eikenhof is particularly significant for parts of Johannesburg, including the Commando system, which supplies reservoir complexes serving areas such as Crosby, Brixton and Hursthill.

Moore said the DA’s calculations indicated that Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni were collectively losing approximately one billion litres of treated water daily through physical losses.

“Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni are collectively losing approximately one billion litres of treated water every day through physical losses,” he said.

The Department of Water and Sanitation has separately reported substantial losses across Gauteng.

Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation Jack Bloom said Johannesburg recorded non-revenue water of about 49%, including physical losses of 26%. Tshwane stood at 45%, with physical losses of 34%, while Ekurhuleni recorded about 30%, including physical losses of 22%.

Bloom said physical losses through burst and leaking pipes across Gauteng amounted to an estimated 431 billion litres annually.

“Every leak fixed and every meter read correctly brings water to people who don’t currently have it,” he said.

The scale of the problem has also been highlighted in reports on municipal water losses and infrastructure failures.

WaterCAN’s Citizen Science and Training Co-ordinator, Nomsa Daele, said the disruptions reflected years of inadequate investment in municipal infrastructure.

“Various areas have been without water for more than a week, while informal settlements have gone several days without water being delivered to their community water tanks,” Daele said.

“Johannesburg’s water problems did not develop overnight, and they will not be fixed overnight. For years, ageing infrastructure has deteriorated while the investment needed to replace it has fallen behind.”

WaterCAN said areas including Nana’s Farm, Lawley, Ivory Park and Crosby had experienced disruptions, while Bryanston, Morningside, Sunninghill, Woodmead and parts of Randburg and Northcliff had also reported interruptions.

Daele said reducing unnecessary consumption was important but could not replace investment in infrastructure.

She also called for transparency over the City’s revenue ring-fencing arrangement for Johannesburg Water.

“We need clarity on ring-fencing and the sweeping account. The City must be open and transparent about how revenue intended for Johannesburg Water is managed. We cannot fix a broken system without investment,” she said.

In KwaZulu-Natal, eThekwini Municipality said supply curtailments by bulk supplier uMngeni-uThukela Water at Durban Heights Water Treatment Works had reduced flows through the Southern Aqueduct.

This had lowered levels at the Northdene and Shallcross reservoirs.

“The Pinetown South reservoir system depends entirely on Shallcross Reservoir for its water supply,” the municipality said.

It confirmed that the Washington Heights and Intake reservoirs were empty and that it could not provide a confirmed timeframe for restoring normal supply.

Water tankers were being arranged for affected communities.

Johannesburg Water has also warned residents against buying water from private tankers operating in affected communities. The entity said it could not guarantee the source or quality of the water, or whether it met the SANS 241 drinking-water standard.

At national level, Deputy Minister David Mahlobo said the Water Crisis Committee would work to address water challenges across the country, including dry taps and communities without access to running water.

The South African Human Rights Commission’s Gauteng Provincial Office is also due to release its inquiry report into water and sanitation service delivery on Monday.

The inquiry examined “persistent water and sanitation challenges across the province, including interruptions in water supply, inadequate infrastructure, wastewater treatment failures and pollution”.

The Commission said it considered how these challenges affected communities’ constitutional rights to water, health and dignity.