Joburg Water says there’s ‘no estimated time to restore water’ in Paulshof and Lonehill

Some residents in Lonehill and Paulshof are forced into the harsh reality of carrying buckets and containers to store water for their household needs as the water crisis in the suburbs has gone on for almost two weeks now.

The outage, which began on November 30, has left hundreds, if not thousands, of residents struggling to maintain basic hygiene, cook meals, and meet their daily needs.

Nombuso Shabalala, the spokesperson for Johannesburg Water, acknowledged the severity of the situation. “There is indeed a leak in that area and a Joburg Water team has completed repairs. However, on Friday afternoon (6 December), the team experienced a technical challenge, and the water supply had to be isolated (closed) again.”

Also read: Lack of water causes residents to lose faith in Joburg Water

The initial six-day outage saw water tankers being deployed after a three-day delay. Briefly, residents were able to access water on December 7, but this was short-lived as the water supply was cut off once more on the morning of December 8.

Since then, residents have been left high and dry with no clear timeline for the resolution of the issue.

“It’s inhumane what we’re going through we’re not asking for much, just some water to survive. We’re struggling to keep clean, cook our meals, and provide for our families. It’s like living in a third-world country,” said a resident from Paulshof, who wished to remain anonymous.

Also read: Water leaks mean a quarter of the water for the city is lost

Shabalala said they have been working tirelessly to repair the burst 400mm pipe at the corner of Dennis Road and Cheyne Street in Lonehill. However, there is currently no estimated time for the completion of repairs.

Residents are urging the water utility to take immediate action to restore their water supply.

“We need them to reroute the water through a different pipe or at least turn the water back on periodically while they work on fixing the problem. Anything would be better than this uncertainty and lack of access to necessities,” added the resident.

Shabalala concluded, “Daily updates are being issued to ward councillor groups and Johannesburg Water’s social media platforms. We apologise for the inconvenience caused and assure the public that our team is working diligently to resolve the issue as soon as possible.”

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Related article: Paulshof and Lonehill residents left without water for five days amid ongoing leak investigation