Rand Water spokesperson Makenosi Maroo has warned of possible water shortages across Ekurhuleni, Tshwane and four other municipalities after an electricity outage at the Mapleton Pumping Station disrupted pumping operations.

The City of Ekurhuleni reported an electricity failure at its infrastructure at approximately 20:35 on November 2, affecting the power supply to Rand Water’s Mapleton Pumping Station.

Maroo said the station had been unable to pump water since the interruption.

According to Maroo, the outage is linked to a breaker failure that has yet to be repaired. Rand Water made repeated enquiries to the City of Ekurhuleni throughout the night but had not received a firm commitment on when electricity would be restored.

At the time of the statement, no estimated restoration time had been communicated.

Maroo said Rand Water remained unable to resume pumping and had no control over the restoration of the city’s electricity supply.

The disruption is expected to affect water supply in the City of Ekurhuleni, City of Tshwane, Lesedi, Govan Mbeki, Victor Khanye and Thembisile Hani municipalities.

Rand Water has called on the City of Ekurhuleni to treat the electricity outage as an emergency.