Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero has assured residents of Gauteng that there will be water running in their currently dry taps before Christmas.
This comes after planned maintenance on the city's water infrastructure at the long weekend. This resulted in approximately 86 hours of water supply disruption.
Speaking to the media during a walkabout at the Honeydew Reservoir and Tower in Roodepoort on Wednesday morning, Mayor Morero expressed satisfaction that work in the area had been completed.
"We also aimed that by Christmas Day all maintenance programmes would have been completed and people would have water. We are also trying to attract people to come and visit Johannesburg and spend their Christmas in Johannesburg," he said.
However, many households were still without water.
According to Morero, engineers were actively inspecting the pipes and valves to determine the cause of the disruption. This is especially in affected areas such as Jackal Creek.
He vowed that they would also go to other areas to ensure that there was a constant water supply.
"Hopefully by Friday, all those areas that were affected by maintenance will have water. We are asking for residents to continue exercising a bit of patience. We are almost at the last mile and the water will be there," he said.
Morero said that Johannesburg Water has been working diligently to ensure that water delivery continues effectively, especially to vulnerable communities. Johannesburg Water also aims to strengthen security measures, with tactical escorts for trucks to ensure the safe transport of water to those in need.
These included sending water tankers to the communities and establishing two self-help filling points at Johannesburg Water depots at Southdale and Hamberg, to ensure that residents have direct access to water resources.
The mayor maintained that they were hard at work to ensure a constant water supply despite challenges.
IOL Politics