Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Ferial Haffajee
Published on 2024-03-19 11:37:04
The question of whether the mayor and administration have lost control of the water system in Johannesburg has sparked a debate following contrasting statements from the mayor and Johannesburg Water. While the mayor stated on 15 March that the system was recovering and supply had been restored to most affected areas, Johannesburg Water contradicted this by declaring their systems were still critical on 17 March.
The answer to the question comes from reassurance that control has not been lost over the city’s water supply systems. Despite the recent challenges from power outages affecting water pumping, the system was steadily recovering as of Friday, ensuring residents received water supply via their taps, albeit with low pressure in certain areas. Johannesburg Water constantly monitors the system to manage drastic demand peaks and ensure the reliability and capacity are maintained. The recent surge in water demand due to heatwaves has necessitated the warning for residents to conserve water in a water-scarce country like South Africa.
The outage on 3/4 March highlighted the vulnerability of the water supply network, impacting a significant portion of the city, causing panic and disruption. However, swift repairs and system recovery efforts ensured most areas received water within a day or two. Despite challenges in high-lying areas like Linden and Kensington, where delays persisted due to network location, overall, the city enjoyed reliable water supply.
The complexity of managing water systems during outages, such as the need for gradual pump re-energization post-repair to prevent system overloading, underscores the delicate process involved in safeguarding the system from total collapse. While the recent outages created inconvenience, they were not deemed a crisis by the mayor, who defines a crisis as a complete system collapse with no mitigation or alternative supply options, ensuring residents have “zero” access to water.
The ongoing challenges in Johannesburg’s water infrastructure, including age-related vulnerabilities and sporadic disruptions, underscore the need for continuous maintenance and upgrades. The city is actively pursuing projects to address these issues, albeit constrained by limited resources. With a significant infrastructure backlog estimated at R27 billion and an annual expenditure of R1 billion on water and sanitation, the city acknowledges the need for increased investment to address backlogs decisively.
Efforts are underway to engage with the national government and private sector for financial support towards meeting infrastructure demands. The mayor’s commitment to addressing community concerns, as evidenced by the task team announcement, will be followed up to ensure accountability and responsiveness to residents’ needs.
Read the original article on Daily Maverick
