Water crisis deepens across South Africa as communities face prolonged outages
South African communities are facing increasing distress as widespread water outages disrupt daily living, harming both households and businesses alike. Residents from Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape, and beyond have expressed their fury over the consistent water supply issues, which municipalities attribute to a mixture of unplanned maintenance, infrastructure upgrades, and burst pipes
Frustration and unrest continue to ripple across South Africa as numerous communities grapple with ongoing water outages that have severely disrupted day-to-day activities.
Municipalities attribute these outages to a combination of factors, including unplanned maintenance, burst pipes, and crucial infrastructure upgrades.
However, for many affected residents, these explanations provide little comfort when faced with empty taps. In the face of these challenges, many citizens say they find themselves in a helpless situation, forced to buy expensive bottled water or wait for government tankers, which sometimes fail to deliver much-need water.
The crisis is not isolated to a singular locality but stretches across provinces, notably Gauteng, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Western Cape, where strict water usage regulations have been imposed to manage the scarcity.
In Cosmo City, a suburb in Johannesburg, the situation is particularly dire where residents report prolonged outages that exceed scheduled maintenance days, leaving them exasperated and without a reliable source of water.
Phakama Mhlali, a local non-profit organisation dedicated to addressing service delivery issues, revealed the dire concerns the residents of Cosmo City face in a letter shared with the Saturday Star with many revealing that they are struggling with mounting municipal bills and inadequate support during these challenging times.
'Residents are unable to meet the requirements of the current outstanding bill. Support during water shortages: There is little to no support from Johannesburg Water during water shortages and water shedding; little to no notice or preparation is given when water is cut. Leaving no time to prepare and with no assistance from Johannesburg Water. There are no technicians supplied to Cosmo City when residents are experiencing technical issues with said meters. Meter implementations are done unjustly. Only a few residences are required meters and are paying for said water, while other residents continue to have access to water freely without charge. Little support from the ESP programme: elderly and disadvantaged residents are still obligated to meet the full requirements regarding the municipal bill demands of Cosmo residents to Johannesburg Water,' the letter noted.
Adding to the chorus of frustration, residents like Ma Hlophe, a local business owner, are grappling with the financial ramifications of water shortages.
'People are leaving my place to find better rentals where they can get access to water and electricity. I have tried so many ways, but we are not getting any help. They make promises, but nothing is ever done. It has been weeks without electricity. Water outages have added more frustration. Things are really bad in this area.'
The Forum for South Africa (FOSA), led by Tebogo Mashilompane, speaks out against what they perceive as deliberate sabotage of water and electricity services by the government.
'The issue of water and electricity is a deliberate act of sabotage from the government. The government is complicit in all these infrastructure attacks because when you look into the issue of water, for example, municipalities are deliberate in allowing infrastructure to dilapidate so that they can source the service from the water tankers,' he stated, criticising the current status quo and calling for community engagement on these pressing issues.
Mashilompane revealed that FOSA has initiated community consultative campaigns to engage residents directly, spotlighting the systemic neglect that they believe is causing these ongoing outages.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has also voiced its concerns, questioning the silence from Johannesburg Water amidst ongoing Rand Water maintenance affecting major supply lines.
'This comes on top of existing Rand Water maintenance that had reduced the pumping capacity of the Eikenhof Pumping Station to 50%. Rand Water's maintenance already impacts multiple high-demand systems, including Commando, Orlando East and West, Soweto, Brixton, Crosby, Hursthill 1 and 2, Northcliff, Crown Gardens, and various central and high-lying suburbs – dry taps stemming from these outages ought to be communicated by Joburg Water, but there has been radio silence on the matter,' the DA stated.
In Emfuleni, the DA has escalated matters to the Human Rights Commission (HRC) due to ongoing water shortages in areas like France, Extension 2, and Boipatong.
'Beyond our complaint to the Human Rights Commission, we demand to know if the contractor who was appointed was indeed qualified to carry out the work; whether the contractor has a proven track record of previously having done this type of work; and finally and why was the community left without water for weeks on end.'
Adding to the pressure, the Amandla.Mobi movement has initiated a petition urging the Department of Water and Sanitation to act on the persistent problem of water leaks, further indicating the widespread community dissatisfaction.
In KZN, communities like Kwandengezi have gone without running water for weeks, compounding difficulties during school holidays alongside Mthatha residents who are still recovering from devastating floods.
Responding to the frustrations, Nombuso Shabalala, spokesperson for Johannesburg Water, told the Saturday Star that recent prolonged interruptions were primarily due to maintenance conducted by Rand Water. 'Johannesburg Water continues to deploy alternative water supply through roaming and stationary water tankers to assist affected communities, with priority given to critical facilities such as clinics, hospitals, and schools,' Shabalala noted.
In addressing the concerns over dysfunctional water meters, Shabalala reassured residents that their teams are actively working to resolve reported issues, urging residents to log their complaints through official channels to ensure prompt attention. 'We continue to work closely with Rand Water to normalise supply,' she added.
anita.nkonki@inl.co.za
Saturday Star
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Phakama Mhlali, a local non-profit organisation dedicated to addressing service delivery issues, revealed the dire concerns the residents of Cosmo City face in a letter shared with the Saturday Star with many revealing that they are struggling with mounting municipal bills and inadequate support during these challenging times. 'Residents are unable to meet the requirements of the current outstanding bill. Support during water shortages: There is little to no support from Johannesburg Water during water shortages and water shedding; little to no notice or preparation is given when water is cut. Leaving no time to prepare and with no assistance from Johannesburg Water. There are no technicians supplied to Cosmo City when residents are experiencing technical issues with said meters. Meter implementations are done unjustly. Only a few residences are required meters and are paying for said water, while other residents continue to have access to water freely without charge. 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South Africa has one of the highest rates of absentee fathers in the world. Image: BEING a volunteer in the child welfare movement for many years teaches one many things - the most important of which is the primacy of family values in a civilised society. The family is the traditional unit of socialisation. It's where we assume an identity, where we learn our values, where we grapple with the moral and ethical contradictions of what we are taught, where we seek comfort and support and learn coping mechanisms and life skills that remain with us for life. This is complemented by schools, churches, peer groups, universities and other agencies. In what is often considered a conservative view in contemporary times, many of us still believe that children need to be reared by mummy and daddy in the same home, being physically and emotionally present, even though the gender roles previously taken for granted are rapidly changing. Unfortunately, South Africa has one of the highest rates of absentee fathers in the world. Over 61% of children under the age of 18 do not live with their biological fathers. Of this number, 10.1% of children's fathers are deceased, while 51.7% of children's fathers are alive, but not living with the child. Only 33% of South African children live with both their parents and of the remaining 67%, only 39% live with their biological mothers and 4% with their biological fathers. The other 57% lived in other kinds of care, including extended families, mainly grandmothers, government institutions or child-headed households. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. 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Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ These statistics do not take into account the many fathers who are living with their children, but are absent emotionally or are abusive in some way or another leading to institutional care in child and youth care centres or in foster care placements burdening an inadequate social welfare budget that continues to make the provision of daily services an increasingly impossible task for child welfare societies. Now we understand that colonial dispossession, apartheid-era land evictions, influx controls, pass laws, and the migrant labour system created deep-seated family fragmentation. Black men were forced to reside far from their families, in single-sex hostels, for employment in mines and factories or in distant cities, a pattern that persists today under conditions of heightened economic inequality. The root of fatherlessness has its genesis herein. We know that social and historical forces are instrumental in shaping behaviour but what about individual agency? Whilst social class, gender, religion, ethnicity and customs either influence or limit individual actions don't adult human beings have the potential and ability to determine their own thoughts and behaviour? Isn't it possible to break the cycles of gender-based violence, child neglect and the other manifestations of toxic masculinity of irresponsible biological fathers? This is especially the case with younger, educated, financially secure men; many of whom are businessmen and professionals, beneficiaries of the democratic transition, but take little or no care of their own children. The results of absentee fathers are devastating. Numerous studies have shown that children who grow up fatherless are more vulnerable to emotional problems such as depression. Girls are more likely to have lower self-esteem, which could lead to earlier and riskier sexual behaviour, teenage pregnancy, marrying early and getting divorced. All potentially welfare cases. Father absence correlates with lower school completion rates, poor academic performance, and lower future earnings. Boys who grow up without a father are more prone to extreme aggression and in South Africa males between 15 and 34 are the most likely group to commit crimes. Studies in the United States of America have shown a direct correlation between fatherlessness and delinquency 63% of people who commit suicide come from fatherless homes 70% of juveniles in state-operated institutions come from fatherless homes 80% of rapists supposedly motivated by displaced anger come from fatherless homes 85% of children with behavioural problems come from fatherless homes 90% of homeless children come from fatherless homes In 2016, a national prevalence study estimated that 1 in 3 children are victims of sexual violence and physical abuse before they reach the age of 18, whilst 12% of children report neglect and 16% report emotional abuse Children have a constitutional right to protection from maltreatment, abuse, and neglect and a right to responsive protection services following abuse. However, the child protection system is failing to protect children. Law and policy is comprehensive, but implementation is poor. The volunteer child welfare movement with many decades of experience requires much more funding and support from both government and communities to tackle these social ills. Changing social norms, national education and awareness campaigns on engaged fatherhood, job creation and economic empowerment for both men and women, mentorship networks and social grants are all important in alleviating the scourge of both GBV and father absenteeism but at the end of the day it is not the state's responsibility to look after our children. Those of us who have children must take responsibility for them. This is not to blame the victim but to reflect on the power of individual agency. Professor Dasarath Chetty Image: File Professor Dasarath Chetty has been a volunteer in the Child Welfare movement for 40 years, having served as President of Child Welfare South Africa for 8 years and as President of Durban Child Welfare for 8 years amongst other leadership positions. ** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media. THE POST
