{"id":802906,"date":"2024-12-04T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-04T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=802906"},"modified":"2024-12-04T14:12:05","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T12:12:05","slug":"warning-over-major-december-water-shutdown-in-joburg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/802906\/warning-over-major-december-water-shutdown-in-joburg\/","title":{"rendered":"Warning over major &#8216;December water shutdown&#8217; in Joburg"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Water-rights advocacy group WaterCAN has expressed its concerns over Rand Water&#8217;s planned maintenance of the Eikenhof and Zwartkopjes pump stations, scheduled from 13 to 16 December 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The 86-hour project will cause significant disruptions to the water supply, impacting thousands of households during a critical period,&#8221; said WaterCAN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The group said that amid an <a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/796861\/joburg-disaster-collapsing-water-infrastructure-in-pictures\/\"><strong>ongoing Johannesburg water crisis<\/strong><\/a>, it calls for the shutdown to be reconsidered or alternatives to be explored to mitigate disruptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rand Water said that the maintenance on its Eikenhof and Zwartkopjes pump stations is being done to improve the plants&#8217; availability, reliability, and efficiencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to details from Johannesburg Water, this maintenance entails:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Eikenhof Pump Station:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Maintenance will take place over 86 hours from <strong>07:00 on 13 December to 16 December 2024<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Customers will experience <strong>no water<\/strong> during this period.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Affected areas include <strong>Soweto, Randburg\/Roodepoort, Commando, Lenasia, parts of Johannesburg central including Eagles Nest, Crown Gardens, Aeroton and Alan Manor reservoirs.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Zwartkopjes Pump Station:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Maintenance will occur over 36 hours from <strong>05:00 on 13 December to 14 December 2024<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Customers will experience <strong>poor pressure to no water<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Affected areas include <strong>Crown Gardens, Eagles Nest Reservoir, Parktown, Berea, Forrest Hill, Alan Manor, Naturena, Aeroton, Orlando East, as well as the Hector Norris Pump Station.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>&#8216;Not the right time&#8217;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr Ferrial Adam, Executive Manager of WaterCAN said that \u201cwhile we recognise the importance of maintenance to preserve infrastructure, the timing of this shutdown couldn\u2019t be worse.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Many communities are still reeling from recent water shortages and protests [and] residents of Johannesburg deserve a break from these repeated disruptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf this maintenance was planned, why has there been no consultation or explanation and communication? Why schedule it for the first long weekend of the festive season?\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Johannesburg\u2019s ongoing water crisis is exacerbated by aging infrastructure, resulting in the city losing almost 30% of its water through leaks in the water pipeline network, reservoirs and pump stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Non-revenue water (NRW) is the volume of water that is pumped but for which the municipality receives no income. The target for municipalities in South Africa is less than 25% but the actual NRW is much higher \u2013 currently ~46% in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-businesstech wp-block-embed-businesstech\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"qm4zaxsf9w\"><a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/796861\/joburg-disaster-collapsing-water-infrastructure-in-pictures\/\">Joburg disaster: Collapsing water infrastructure in pictures<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Joburg disaster: Collapsing water infrastructure in pictures&#8221; &#8212; BusinessTech\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/796861\/joburg-disaster-collapsing-water-infrastructure-in-pictures\/embed\/#?secret=6UU0nn7iby#?secret=qm4zaxsf9w\" data-secret=\"qm4zaxsf9w\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the past month, both national and local water entities have outlined their turnaround strategies, emphasising the need for infrastructure improvements and service delivery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Adam said that &#8220;while these strategies are essential, they lack clear communication and practical details, making it difficult to gain public trust and support.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;In a context where trust between communities and the government is already strained, a thoughtful and inclusive approach is critical,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>WaterCAN has called on Rand Water and Johannesburg Water to increase transparency about the maintenance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe communication and consultation regarding this latest project has only deepened public dissatisfaction,\u201d said Adam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs far as WaterCAN could establish, private contractors were hired for the maintenance operation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We would like to know who was hired, and if it is possible for this company to postpone this project without penalising Rand Water or charging them for standing time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the project proceeds, WaterCAN urges Rand Water and Joburg Water to engage with affected communities and provide a comprehensive plan to minimise disruptions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Adam emphasised that residents should not be left to face additional uncertainty and hardship without clear communication or contingency measures in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Johannesburg Water said that it will provide alternative water supply through water tankers in coordination with respective ward councillors of affected regions and provide regular updates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/energy\/802680\/big-tax-hikes-coming-for-businesses-in-south-africa\/\">Big tax hikes coming for businesses in South Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scheduled maintenance on Eikenhof and Zwartkopjes pump stations will stop water supply in several Johannesburg areas, with some saying that &#8220;the timing of this shutdown couldn\u2019t be worse.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":758649,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[1996,13848,1988,14467,21188],"class_list":["post-802906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-johannesburg","tag-johannesburg-water","tag-outa","tag-rand-water","tag-watercan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802906"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":802928,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802906\/revisions\/802928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/758649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}