Since October 2022 we’ve come to realise that there’s no guarantee that water will come out of our taps when we turn them on. Last year we were told that it was because users were filling their pools and watering their gardens, that there was excessive water use and that when the rains came, it would all be sorted out.

The rain fell, the Vaal Dam was overflowing but still we were subjected to intermittent water outages. In frustration ERA joined with Councillor Nicolene Jonker and invited Joburg Water and other entities to a Town Hall meeting that was eventually held on May 16. See here for the questions that we sent Joburg Water. https://era.org.za/event/town-hall-meeting/

But Joburg Water sent apologies. When our taps ran dry again in June, we again received no details of what Joburg Water was doing to resolve the situation. Instead each day we were told— “Hursthill 2 reservoir critically low to empty.”

Finally in frustration, when some residents had had no water for 10 days, we drafted a letter to the City Manager demanding to know what was going on and what plans were in place to resolve the situation. As we were about to send the letter, we heard via our councillor that Joburg Water and Rand Water had been in discussions and that finally more water would be pumped into the reservoir to build its capacity.

See the letter below. The City Manager acknowledged receipt and said he had forwarded to Joburg Water.