Johannesburg’s ongoing water outages have ignited nationwide headlines and driven frustrated residents to protest on the streets.

In response, communities in the southern suburbs have moved beyond placards, mobilising pumps, pipes and volunteer efforts to address municipal water shortfalls, delivering relief through improvised hosepipe solutions.

In the suburb of Ridgeway, south of Johannesburg, community leader Zubair Patel, founder of the Southern Suburbs Community Forum and Water Project, oversees water distribution from a 1000-litre water tanker.

The tanker bears the message “The best form of charity is to give someone water,” a quote attributed to the Prophet Muhammad that reflects the ethos behind the community’s water distribution initiative. The tanker is driven around the area so that many residents don’t need to walk around looking for it.

Nearby residents line up with empty bottles and buckets to access water from a hosepipe, highlighting community efforts to mitigate the crisis and provide relief to community members who have been without water for weeks.

“We simply want to help. We all suffer with no water. We hope something changes and our infrastructure can be replaced and maintained. Thanks to all those who help us in our efforts to help during this water crisis,” said Zubair.