Three strikes for South Africa
South Africa’s capital Pretoria, commercial hub Johannesburg and tourism mecca Cape Town all experienced water shortages this week, highlighting ongoing challenges with the nation’s frayed infrastructure.
Officials said water supply was low in Pretoria because of depleted levels at key reservoirs, which were unable to keep up with consumer demand amid high summer temperatures.
Johannesburg was hit by a worker strike, although this was resolved later in the day.
Cape Town residents were asked to “urgently reduce water consumption” due to a problem with valves on one of the city’s major reservoirs, according to spokesman Luthando Tyhalibongo.
“The National Department of Water and Sanitation has repaired the valves. We ask residents to keep using water sparingly until the system has stabilised,” Tyhalibongo said in a phone interview.
While South Africa has managed to improve the performance of its state-owned power supplier Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd, ending years of near-daily electricity outages, water shortages remain an ongoing issue in a number of areas, including Johannesburg.
The city’s budget for repairing water infrastructure was increased last year in an attempt to present a turnaround strategy to fix the problem.
The plan was to raise R10.2 billion in loans over the next decade to finance repairs.
Loading ...