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Johannesburg - “The City of Johannesburg has failed to provide us with water.”
These were the painful words written in a letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa from aggrieved Joburg east residents, comprising Kensington, Bruma, Bez Valley, De Wetshof, Observatory, and other surrounding areas, who were all complaining about intermittent water disruptions for many months.
After enduring several weeks of no water, these residents formed a water crisis committee, and penned a petition to Ramaphosa, some of his Cabinet members and the City of Joburg Mayor, Kabelo Gwamanda.
The aggrieved parties wrote: “In the last month, we have experienced over ten days of disruption, with the last eight days being the most severe, with many residents not receiving any water – a basic human right enshrined in Section 27 of our Constitution.”
According to the residents, reports from various media outlets point to a worrying narrative, and Joburg Water attributed their problem to overconsumption by residents.
They also told Ramaphosa that there was finger-pointing between the Joburg Water and Rand Water.
The group also claimed that there was possible involvement of criminal syndicates linked to service providers of water trucks.
“The problem is compounded by poor communication on the nature of the issues, techno-speak by officials and politicians, and a lack of clarity on the root causes of the problem and plans to address the issues.
“Further to the current crisis, the water supply in our area was plagued by the loss of water due to burst pipes, poor quality repairs and the lack of maintenance. The connections in many areas are unable to sustain the required pressure,” the group said.
They also said that The City, Joburg Water and Rand Water's conduct violates the Batho Pele principles meant to underpin public service.
Now, they were hoping for a public meeting with all parties involved to resolve their crisis.
Detailing their pain to Ramaphosa, the group said: “The City of Johannesburg has, largely failed us in this regard. As residents, we are already burdened by ongoing load-shedding. Water trucks are inadequate to meet our needs, and often, they operate when we are at work. Or we receive late or no communication of their presence in our areas.
“Our initial observations point to the following as possible root causes of the problem: Inadequate and ageing infrastructure that cannot cope with the densification of our areas, including the mushrooming of illegal backyard dwellings happening in the absence of by-law enforcement, mismanagement and corruption.
“Poor planning by the City of Joburg, Joburg Water and Rand Water. Poor political leadership in the City of Joburg – i.e. ineffective public representatives at all levels, from the Mayoral Committee to local councillors and ongoing political instability in the City of Joburg,” they wrote.
The group has also threatened to lodge formal complaints against the City of Joburg to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the Public Protector.
“We are considering a class action suit against the City of Johannesburg, Joburg Water and Rand Water. Peaceful mass action directed at the City of Joburg and Rand Water and peaceful protests at the next sitting of the Council of the City of Johannesburg,’’ the group said.