Residents in parts of Melville, Brixton, Auckland Park, and Parktown West are growing increasingly frustrated, as water supply problems continue more than a week after Rand Water completed planned maintenance.

Ward 87 councillor Kyle Jacobs said residents were initially advised to expect system recovery within three to five days following the maintenance period, which ran from May 29 to June 2. However, he said several areas remain affected, with some communities seeing little improvement. According to Jacobs, the areas mentioned continue to experience low pressure or prolonged outages. He believes residents deserve clearer answers on why recovery has taken significantly longer than anticipated.

Read more: Johannesburg water systems to face scheduled maintenance, despite already being dangerously fragile

The concern is not only the delays, but the lack of clear timelines and communication around when normal supply will be restored. Jacobs said observations on the ground suggest water is being redirected within the Commando system to support certain areas, while others remain under pressure. He added that community concerns have been repeatedly raised with Johannesburg Water (JW) management and the city administration.

JW spokesperson Nombuso Shabalala acknowledged that recovery has been slower than expected, but said the challenges stem from the interconnected nature of the city’s water network and broader bulk supply system. She explained that although the maintenance was completed as scheduled, constraints across linked systems continue to influence recovery rates and water availability. “The Commando system has shown notable improvement over the past few days, and remains stable, with most customers receiving water. However, the overall system remains constrained, resulting in intermittent low pressure and occasional supply interruptions, particularly in higher-lying areas.”

She said Johannesburg Water has implemented daily operational interventions to balance supply, demand, and equitable distribution across affected suburbs. According to Shabalala, Crosby reservoir remains at low levels, but continues supplying customers through ongoing pumping operations, while Brixton 1 reservoir and tower have improved significantly, and are providing water throughout the day. Additional support is also being provided through interlinked systems connected to Hursthill infrastructure.

Johannesburg Water further confirmed that water is being redirected within the Commando system, and augmented from other parts of the network where possible, to assist recovery efforts.

Also read: Rand Water set for winter water supply interruptions due to critical Eskom maintenance

While some residents have criticised a lack of communication, Shabalala said Johannesburg Water issues updates twice daily, and continues to provide progress reports as conditions change. She noted that recovery timelines remain difficult to predict because they depend on factors such as reservoir storage levels, demand patterns, and network conditions.

She added that supply from Rand Water has increased and is currently above targeted allocation levels, but rebuilding reservoir capacity, while meeting ongoing demand, remains a gradual process.

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