Joburg residents go hours a day without water

Residents in Malvern and Kensington in Johannesburg have been without constant water supply for several months.

With a planned 21-day water maintenance outage currently underway in many parts of the Gauteng province, residents say it will only hurt their pockets more than their current situation.

The Citizen visited the area this week and heard how residents are still paying high water and electricity bills for services they are not getting.

“My water bill from last month is R7 000 but we don’t have water,” Terrence Martincich said.

A neighbour, Angelica Gerber, added, “When you open the tap, it’s air coming out of the pipes. So we are paying for air, not water.”

WATCH: Angelica expressing concern over the current water issues.

ALSO READ: 21-day water outage in Joburg set to begin Friday

The struggle to get water

Another resident, identified as Aveshen, expressed how this situation has been negatively affecting his life.

“For the past few months, the water has been going off. It comes back in the morning. The pressure is low and we’re struggling to bath or fill up the geyser”, he said.

He explained that the low-pressure water that comes in the morning is gone again by midday.

He said he only sees the promised water truck if there are complaints in the community WhatsApp groups.

Petition handed to the Human Rights Commmission

“The real culprits are Joburg Water and Rand Water, residents are the victims”, the DA’s Jack Bloom to The Citizen.

In February, he submitted a petition to the Human Rights Commission, claiming the situation also violates the residents’ human rights.

“We handed in the complaint and they [the commission] haven’t got back to us”, he said.

City of Joburg respond

MMC of the Environment and Infrastructure Department Cllr Jack Sekwaila expressed concern about the ongoing water challenge that affect many areas in the city, including Bertrams, Kensington and Berea.

Sekwaila said technical teams from both Rand Water and Johannesburg Water were on site to inspect a pipeline in the area and search for airlocks.

They discovered some leaks, which they started addressing.

They have reported the water levels at the Alexander Park reservoir to be improving following the site inspection

“We will continue to provide updates on the recovery process until the system is fully restored.

“Additionally, I would like to apologise to all affected residents for the inconvenience caused by this outage, and I assure you that we will continue to provide water through alternative supply methods until the system is fully functional”, said Sekwaila.

After The Citizen‘s enquiries, residents said a water truck came to the area on Thursday afternoon to provide relief.

However, the truck apparently left frantically while pouring water and allegedly almost drove over residents.

Councillors have committed to bringing the matter to the authorities.