Residents across several Pretoria east suburbs have expressed growing frustration over recurring water outages, with communities demanding better communication and long-term solutions from the Tshwane metro.

The latest disruption affected areas including Elardus Park, Erasmuskloof Ext 2 and 3, Wingate Park, Rietvallei Park, and Rietvalleirand, leaving many residents without water over the weekend.

Community member Elaine Battle, who lives in Erasmuskloof Ext. 2 and works as an office executive for Welriet NPC and the LS4 CPF, said residents have reached breaking point.

“Our community is very angry about the no-water situation in our areas. This is now regular,” said Battle.

“This is not acceptable. This affects everyone. We have been tolerant with regard to service delivery in our areas, but no water is something completely different.”

Battle said residents want clarity from the metro on what is causing the repeated outages.

“Our community wants answers. What is the problem at Garsfontein? Or is it a bigger problem, as it would appear that many areas are affected?”

She questioned whether reservoirs in affected areas were being properly monitored and whether pumps were being switched back on after repairs.

“We are not interested in political fights between parties. We need answers as taxpayers and municipal payers about what the situation is and the way forward to ensure this does not continue.”

Ward 47 councillor Lida Erasmus also criticised the lack of communication from the metro, saying residents and councillors received no advance warning before the outages.

“Friday evening, the water in a lot of areas and surrounds suddenly just went off. We were given no advanced warning. Nobody told me anything,” said Erasmus.

She said she later established that work was being carried out on infrastructure linked to the Garsfontein Reservoir, which allegedly resulted in reservoirs further downstream running dry.

According to Erasmus, the Garsfontein Reservoir was apparently emptied, which meant that no pumping could be done to other reservoirs, including Elardus Park, leaving three wards with no water whatsoever.

Erasmus added that water only started returning slowly on Saturday morning before residents were again hit by another outage on Sunday.

“This afternoon I suddenly got reports that there’s no water again, without warning. They had shut off the water to Garsfontein Reservoir. They were working on the pipes apparently, and again, the reservoirs down the line ran empty.”

She said residents, particularly those in higher-lying areas, could face extended delays before supply is fully restored.

Erasmus added that the moment people start seeing water in the lower areas, they start using it, which means higher-lying residents are disadvantaged and the highest areas will have to wait until reservoirs recover sufficiently before booster pumps can start.

She described the situation as unacceptable.

“This is absolutely irresponsible. They do not give us any advanced warning. They do not let us get any warning to our residents, and they just leave them without water.”

She added that councillors had received little information regarding restoration times or reservoir recovery.

According to Erasmus, they had no communication the whole weekend on restoration times or reservoir levels or whether pumping had started.

“Nothing. We have to use deduction from movements on the ground and past experience to give residents any form of feedback.”

Responding to the concerns, metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the disruption followed emergency repair work at the Garsfontein Reservoir.

Mashigo said the metro is aware of the low water pressure and intermittent water supply currently being experienced in areas supplied by the Waverley High Level and Low Level reservoirs; Eersterust; Parkmore High Level and Low Level reservoirs; Monument Park; Elardus Park; as well as areas supplied through the Moreleta system.

According to Mashigo, the metro apologises for the inconvenience caused and would like to assure residents that the matter is receiving urgent attention.

He said a major leak was detected in the valve chamber at the reservoir, and technical teams were deployed to carry out emergency repairs.

“City technical teams responded promptly and have successfully attended to the leak. However, the incident resulted in several downstream reservoirs supplied by Garsfontein running empty, affecting water supply to a number of communities.”

Mashigo said water supply was being restored and residents should experience gradual improvements as reservoir levels recover and the network stabilises.

“The city appreciates the patience and understanding of affected residents and encourages consumers to continue using water sparingly during the recovery period.”

However, Erasmus questioned why residents were not informed before the repair work began.

“This was only communicated last night, but we still have no information as to how reservoirs are recovering and when people will have water in their taps,” she said.

“Why was it never communicated that repairs were being done and that water may go off? Or that pipe replacement work was done on Friday and no water was pumped to Elardus Park Reservoir because Garsfontein would be empty?”

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