LISTEN: Joburg Water in the spotlight as Midrand’s water woes continue

Anele and The Club talk more about it on 947.

The Midrand and surrounding areas have been battling the Gauteng heatwave with no water.

What began as low pressure on Friday (1 November) due to high demand moved to no water at all since Saturday (3 November) due to low levels at the Grand Central Reservoir. 

Residents have complained about the lack of service and communication from Johannesburg Water.

On Wednesday (6 November), the city entity said it was providing water via mobile tankers alongside a list of locations for residents.   

However, upon further investigation by the team, it was found that the tankers were not there.

“After trying to get hold of you guys [Joburg Water] all week… we sent people, we did our own research [and] not a single water tanker was there.”

– Anele Mdoda

“And now, when they find out we are now calling the areas and we’ve sent people to go and check if those water tankers are there, they delete the tweet.”

– Anele Mdoda

“People are quite upset now because, besides the fact that we don’t have water, we need to get water somewhere… At least communicate.”

– Frankie Du Toit

“We understand that there are difficulties when it comes to service delivery, [but] I just don’t get the lies and avoidance of your own job. Joburg Water you are government, this is wild to me.”

– Anele Mdoda

Anele and The Club listeners sent voice notes expressing their dissatisfaction with how Joburg Water was handling the water issue.

While the city entity did not respond at the time of the discussion, they tweeted an update on Thursday (7 November) at 12:15 pm that the reservoir was slowly recovering. 

It may however take some time for residents to have water flowing from their taps as the recovery is gradual.

Water tankers, all of which the entity has now provided pictures of on its social media, will remain in place.