Clutching empty buckets and handwritten placards, frustrated residents of Parktown West lined Jan Smuts Avenue and Seymour Road on February 11, marking day 22 of a water outage that has upset daily life and pushed a once resilient community to breaking point.

What began as an intermittent disruption has spiralled into a prolonged crisis. For families, schools, businesses and frail care facilities, the simple act of turning on a tap has become a daily exercise in hope and disappointment. Many households have spent thousands of rands on bottled water, private deliveries and emergency plumbing solutions, while others rely on inconsistent municipal tankers that often arrive late or not at all.

Ward 87 councillor Kyle Jacobs said Parktown West forms part of the wider Commando supply system, one of the most fragile in Johannesburg. He explained that a sequence of failures across several points of the network had culminated in widespread outages across Melville, Westdene, Emmarentia, Auckland Park and surrounding areas.

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According to Jacobs, the initial fault was linked to the Stafford meter, which boosts supply to the Hursthill zone. Soon after, Rand Water’s Zuikerbosch treatment plant experienced a technical failure, reducing pumping capacity.

Compounding the problem, Johannesburg Water was unable to isolate a malfunctioning valve at the Crosby pump station, resulting in the entire Commando meter being shut down, reportedly without prior communication to affected communities.

“After nearly four weeks, we still do not have clear answers on the exact cause of the outage or when full supply will be restored,” Jacobs said. “This has become an absolute crisis. Residents are facing what is effectively a human rights emergency.”

The Commando system, which feeds high-lying suburbs, is highly sensitive to pressure fluctuations. The Hursthill 2 reservoir, which supplies Melville and neighbouring areas, has been bypassed because it cannot maintain sufficient pressure, leaving many homes with dry taps. Johannesburg Water has acknowledged that recent troubleshooting attempts were hampered by airlocks and declining pressure from the bulk meter.

Nico Singh from Johannesburg Water said the Hursthill reservoirs had been experiencing ongoing operational challenges since January 19, affecting suburbs including Westdene, Melville, Parktown West, Emmarentia and Auckland Park. He said the root cause of the disruption had not yet been fully identified, but assured residents that investigations were ongoing and that alternative water supplies would continue to be provided.

Also read: Parktown West residents take to the streets after 22 days without water

Adding to delays, an unprotected municipal strike, which ended on February 10, stalled repairs and disrupted the delivery of water tankers. Technical teams are now flushing the network in an attempt to clear blockages while managing pressure from the Crosby pump station to force water back into the system.

On the streets, residents expressed exhaustion, anger and despair. Kim Sacks said the issue extended beyond inconvenience. “This is about our Constitution and the right to water. Without electricity, you manage, but without water, people and animals suffer. Everything suffers. There is no leadership, no accountability, and no sense of urgency.”

Another resident, Hermain Geldenhuys, expressed the immense emotional toll on families in the suburb, highlighting the lack of transparency and meaningful updates despite having schools and care facilities nearby.

The crisis has also exposed stark contradictions. During a recent visit to Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health, Dr Jack Bloom, reported extensive water leaks in the hospital’s basement, nearly five years after a devastating fire. “It is disgraceful that while residents go without water, large volumes are wasted through unrepaired infrastructure,” he said, calling for urgent rehabilitation of the hospital.

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Civil society groups WaterCAN and the People’s Water Forum have written to President Cyril Ramaphosa, urging national intervention. They warn that Johannesburg is no longer facing a temporary shortage, but a systemic collapse of water infrastructure that constitutes a public health emergency. Their demands include a national disaster declaration, emergency funding, and the appointment of an independent technical task team.

Johannesburg Executive Mayor Dada Morero has acknowledged infrastructure failures, citing the Rand Water reservoir’s inability to supply water in January and decades of underinvestment.

He said R1.7b has been allocated for infrastructure in the 2025/2026 financial year, with further increases planned, and that the refurbishment of Hursthill reservoirs is underway, with stability expected by the second quarter of 2026.

For residents, however, relief cannot come soon enough. As the protesters dispersed, buckets remained empty, taps stayed dry, and a community was left waiting, once again, for the most basic necessity of life.

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