By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
City of Johannesburg Executive Mayor Dada Morero promised Westbury residents that water supply will be restored within seven days.
Residents are protesting the water supply interruptions caused by maintenance work being carried out by Johannesburg Water.
Morero addressed the community on Thursday afternoon.
He said the community would have a full supply of water after seven days, but this would require “throttling” other surrounding areas during the night to bring water levels back to normal.
“This is what I am reporting from the discussions I have had with Joburg Water so that we ensure that there is no interruption of water post the seven days,” Morero said.
“The problem is that the water infrastructure in what they call the Commando [Road] System has been badly affected and badly damaged, which requires refurbishment. We have since put aside a budget of R800m focusing on this area so that we can resolve once and for all the water challenges in your area.”
However, he said, the city will be supplying 15 water tankers in the area.
The residents refused to listen to the solutions and also rejected the water tankers, saying they would cause more problems.
Joburg Water MD Ntshavheni Mukwevho said that the city’s bulk water infrastructure was in urgent need of refurbishment.
“The problem lies in the system itself, which has weaknesses in its bulk infrastructure,” he said. These weaknesses show whenever there are challenges with overall water levels, usually driven by demand exceeding supply.
Mukwevho said, the city would rely on system management to restore balance in the water supply.
Unisa’s Prof. Richard Meissner told Newzroom Afrika that he’s surprised the City of Johannesburg hasn’t made provisions for more water for residents. He says the promise to provide water to Westbury and Coronationville residents in seven days is unrealistic.
Meanwhile Rand Water warned of “extremely” high water consumption by municipalities, urging users to use water sparingly.
The utility, which abstracts, purifies and sells bulk wholesale water to all municipalities in Gauteng and parts of Mpumalanga, the Free State and the North West, said that Gauteng municipalities account for the highest volumes.
Municipalities have been allocated specific quotas of the water produced by Rand Water Systems in line with the abstraction limits set by the Department of Water and Sanitation.