Johannesburg residents who say their taps have been dry for up to 12 weeks march on Johannesburg Water with a memorandum

L2Who’s affected

Parktown West resident Clive Hardwick said some residents have had no reliable supply for 12 weeks; people buy from tankers, wash with buckets and collect water to flush toilets. Water sometimes returns between midnight and 03:00. He worried about elderly residents, including his 93-year-old neighbour, in a heatwave (Northcliff Melville Times). WaterCAN executive manager Dr Ferrial Adam told SABC News: "we're going into a very hot period; we've got a super El Niño, but these things are known about, and we feel that not enough was done to prepare for it."

L3Why it’s quiet

Analysis · OVERLOOKED Bloomberg's Oct. 30 feature on the risk of a "total collapse" of the city's water network is counted in this story's O-Score: it covers the same outages, though not Monday's protest.

L4Deeper impact

Yunus Chamda of the Joburg Crisis Alliance: "I think that the mixed signals that we get from Joburg Water and what we pick up from the ground from communities doesn't connect. And I think it's that that raises the temperature, makes people angry" (eNCA). The alliance had presented 10 demands outside council chambers on Nov. 1, 2025. Mayor Dada Morero was expected to brief the media on Monday (eNCA).

L5Full context

In an Oct. 21 response, Johannesburg Water spokesperson Nombuso Shabalala blamed ageing infrastructure, underfunding, limited financial and human resources, theft and vandalism, population growth, illegal connections, non-payment and power cuts that stop water being pumped to reservoirs and towers (Northcliff Melville Times). Municipal elections are on Nov. 4.

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