PORT ST. JOHNS, Eastern Cape — The Port St. Johns water crisis has escalated into a severe daily challenge, with residents in various villages and townships enduring more than two months without clean running water. As the shortage stretches into its eighth week, community members are being forced to purchase the basic necessity, rely on harvested rainwater, or draw directly from the Umzimvubu River.
Local residents report that their taps have run completely dry, with water supply interruptions becoming a persistent reality. According to community members, the initial disruptions began after water pipes were allegedly damaged during the construction of nearby RTP houses. Since the beginning of the year, municipal pumps have reportedly been activated only three or four times, and merely for a few days to a week at a time, leaving many without water for weeks on end.
The scarcity has severely impacted daily life and public sanitation. The local taxi rank is reportedly engulfed in a foul odor due to unflushed toilets, while municipal water trucks only arrive once every three weeks. Residents describe the arduous task of transporting water, noting that taxi operators charge 35 rand to transport a 20-liter container. To avoid this cost, many are forced to carry multiple 5-liter containers on public transport just to secure enough drinking and bathing water for a few days.
Local businesses, including restaurants and salons, have also been heavily impacted, compelled to buy water at their own expense to remain operational.
Addressing the ongoing disruptions, a spokesperson for the OR Tambo District Municipality attributed the crisis to repeated vandalism and theft of critical infrastructure, including water pumps, generators, and electrical equipment. The spokesperson emphasized that these criminal acts not only deprive communities of essential services but also force the municipality to divert scarce resources toward unplanned emergency repairs rather than broader service improvements.
In response to the mounting pressure, the municipality has deployed water trucks to the area, which arrived on-site to provide immediate, albeit temporary, relief to frustrated residents. Furthermore, a spokesperson for the municipality confirmed that security measures have been significantly strengthened to protect water infrastructure from future theft and vandalism. The local government is also initiating urgent repairs and actively pursuing the electrification of the water scheme to improve long-term reliability and reduce future disruptions.
