Melville residents demand answers as week-long water outage sparks protest
After enduring another week without running water, frustrated Melville residents took to the streets, saying enough is enough.
Melville residents took to the streets on August 14, demanding answers from Johannesburg Water after a week-long water outage left homes and businesses without running water.
Although water was restored to parts of the suburb late on August 13, residents said the protest was about more than the latest disruption, arguing that recurring outages have become an unacceptable reality for the community.
Josh Nel of the Melville Protest Steering Committee said the latest outage should never have happened.
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“We’re protesting because this was an outage that didn’t need to happen. It left a lot of vulnerable people in our community without access to an essential service for over a week,” Nel said.
He said information provided by Johannesburg Water suggested the disruption was linked to problems at the Crosby Pumping Station and was exacerbated by contractors allegedly downing tools after not being paid for several months.
“There is no clear indication that this won’t happen again, and if it happens again, we are not in a position to absorb that kind of shock,” he said.
Residents also described the severe impact the prolonged outage had on their daily lives and livelihoods.
Melville resident Kirsty Jurgens said living without water had been “miserable” since the previous Thursday.
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“It’s costing me thousands to fill the water tanks so that we can run our business. It’s disgraceful,” she said.
The protest follows months of recurring water supply problems affecting Melville and surrounding suburbs, with residents calling on Johannesburg Water to provide reliable water services, improve communication during outages and urgently address ageing infrastructure.
The Melville Residents Association has also called for greater transparency regarding ongoing infrastructure projects and a long-term plan to prevent similar disruptions.
@caxtonjoburgnorth Melville residents take to the streets on August 14 to protest recurring water outages, after homes and businesses were left without running water for a week. Residents are demanding answers from Johannesburg Water and action to prevent further disruptions. Video: Waydon Jacobs #Northcliff #watercrisiss #johannesburg #johannesburgtiktok #CommunityNews #LocalNews #cityofjoburg #foryourpage #TikTokNews #satiktok_sa #SouthAfrica #localnews #viral #fyp #2026 #foryou #BreakingNews ♬ original sound – Caxton Joburg North
JW stated that the publication’s query is well noted.
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