R760m to resolve water crises – Lesufi
A 5km water pipeline is expected to be constructed by the end of the year.
Premier of Gauteng, Panyaza Lesufi, delivered the 2026 State of the Province Address at Nasrec on February 23.
Many waited with bated breath for the Premier to talk about the water crisis. In recent months, water has been a major problem. Joburg South was not spared; it too suffered a lot without water.
Likewise, in his priorities of the seventh Administration of the Gauteng Government of Provincial Unity, water was at the top.
Lesufi explained that on January 27, they faced an unexpected water shortage. There was a huge explosion at the Rand Water plant. “After the explosion, fire hit our transmission machines, followed by a huge burst pipe.
Immediately thereafter, our water supply was deeply affected. We then went into emergency mode. The area affected by the explosion was rectified within 72 hours, the fire extinguished, and the burst pipe repaired.
However, the water levels were badly affected,” he said.
The President sent a Ministerial team to camp in the province, and the water emergency team went on overdrive.
This led the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Honourable Pemmy Majodina, to issue an extraordinary proclamation allowing Rand Water to immediately extract additional water from the Vaal River Integrated Water System.
To permanently resolve the water issues, a R760 million massive infrastructure investment upgrade is underway in CoJ over a phased approach:
• Construction of a new ground reservoir and a tower in Brixton is underway and will go live on February 28 to improve the supply.
• In response to this crisis, he said they built an emergency boosting pumping station, which will go live next week, to ensure that these areas are covered with water.
• The permanent solution will be realised once the construction of the 5km pipeline is concluded at the end of the year.
He also touched on other areas where he said the province has shown improvement, including education infrastructure, the economy, social development, energy and environment, human settlements, social ills and health, among others.
