Despite the recent observance of National Water Week, residents across Johannesburg continue to face persistent water outages, leading to growing public frustration and protests in communities like Westbury and Nigel.
The ongoing crisis, characterized by supply disruptions and a frequent collapse in communication from authorities, has prompted a significant financial response from the city’s water utility. Joburg Water has pledged R600 million to upgrade the aging Commando system, a critical infrastructure network, in an effort to stabilize supply. This investment comes even as Level 1 water throttling remains in effect across the city.
With the intense summer heat approaching, concerns are mounting over whether this substantial investment will provide lasting relief or if residents are still facing a pipe dream.
Weighing in on the announcement, Benoit Leroy, CEO of the South African Water Chamber, called the R600 million allocation a “major investment” and a positive step. He explained that the Commando system is one of the city’s older, more problematic networks and that a systematic approach to repairs is necessary due to budgetary constraints.
“You can’t go big bang. You have to go system by system,” Le Roy stated. He revealed that Joburg Water’s budget for infrastructure maintenance has increased to nearly R1.8 billion this year, with a third dedicated to the Commando system. The long-term plan is to increase investment to R3 billion annually over the next decade to address the system-wide issues.
However, Leroy issued a stark warning about the current strategy of throttling, or deliberately reducing water pressure. He explained that from an engineering perspective, the practice is destructive.
“The systems are designed to be wet… What happens when a system is throttled and it runs out of water? Air replaces it,” he said. When the system recharges, the compressed air causes water hammer, leading to increased pipe bursts and leaks. Despite these dire consequences, Leroy conceded that throttling is currently the “only tool left” to manage the limited water available and prevent a total system collapse.
The challenges are compounded by a “perfect storm” of rapid urbanization, climate pressures, and decades of infrastructure decay. Leroy noted that the system requires an estimated R30-32 billion to be brought to a reasonable condition, a task that cannot be solved overnight.
Looking at long-term solutions, Leroy discussed alternatives like treating acid mine drainage—a source of 200-300 megalitres of water per day—and water reuse programs. However, he cautioned that these sophisticated projects take years to implement and are difficult to prioritize when the utility is “fighting fires literally trying to keep the pipes from bursting.”
For the impending summer, Leroy assured that a complete “Day Zero” scenario, where taps run dry for weeks, is not anticipated. Instead, residents should prepare for continued “sporadic” outages. He emphasized that improved, proactive communication from Joburg Water about planned throttling schedules via WhatsApp, Facebook, and X is critical to help citizens plan.
Ultimately, while the R600 million investment signals that “the voices are being heard,” Le Roy cautioned that full recovery is a long-term project. “We are progressing in the right way,” he said, “we just need to speed it up.” He indicated that resolving the city’s water security issues could take between 5 to 10 years.
