The City of Johannesburg has rejected claims that it is on the brink of “Day Zero”, insisting water continues to flow across the metro, even as residents protest weeks-long outages, describing daily life as “stinking”, undignified and unbearable.
City officials stressed that Day Zero refers to a total system collapse where water can no longer be supplied, maintaining that Johannesburg’s network remains operational despite severe strain caused by high demand, ageing infrastructure and ongoing technical failures.
This comes as frustration boils over across Gauteng, with communities in Midrand, Westdene, Melville, Parktown, Laudium, Soweto reporting prolonged water shortages. In some areas, taps have run dry for more than five weeks, triggering peaceful protests and renewed anger over what residents describe as poor communication and leadership failures.
Residents protesting water shortages say the crisis stretches far beyond a single suburb, affecting multiple communities across Johannesburg.
"I've been protesting in Melville, but it's not only a Melville issue. It's Emmarentia, Parktown, all the areas that are around here close to the university. We are all suffering the same thing for the past 22 days, now 23. We have not had water in this community. And now we're finding out this week that the councillors, the mayor, the premier are all saying they didn't know there was a water crisis.
“They didn't know what's happening. They don't even know what's happening in Soweto. They didn't know what's happening in Midrand, and now they don't know what's happening here. At the moment, we are suffering from a lack of incompetence and a lack of care. These are leaders that are neglectful. They are neglecting us, they are neglecting the city.”
In Westdene, one resident said the outages have already led to financial losses.
“And we live in Westdene, up the hill. We've now had no water for five weeks. We've lost tenants because of this. It's normal. Nobody is hearing us. It's a big problem.”
For others, the impact has been deeply personal.
“Personally, what eats me the most is I've now got to go to work with clothing that I can't wash. I get reprimanded at work because I now have a certain odour to myself, and I can't wash, I can't clean. Carrying water, boiling kettles to wash dishes and cups and plates, you can't clean the floors, you can't wash your clothing, you can't use the toilet.
“It's great for everybody else, but yeah, we sit with nothing. How many? When are they going to come? When are they going to put the water on? Why is it not equal for everybody? Why is it just for some people? Yeah, that's my personal.”
An emotional resident, with tears in her eyes, said the daily effort to secure water for her children has been overwhelming.
“My water experience in Joburg has been quite stressful. We have to continuously think about where we need to pull up the water next to provide for our children, to make sure they have clean clothes, to be able to flush the toilets. Most of the people that are being affected by this are not here. And it's tough.”
City officials attribute the crisis to a combination of emergency repairs at the Palmiet Pump Station, power failures at treatment plants and leaks at key reservoirs, which collectively destabilised supply to parts of Johannesburg. Infrastructure backlogs, illegal connections and above-normal consumption levels have further strained the system.
Executive Mayor Dada Morero said the city was implementing urgent interventions.
“The City of Johannesburg is taking decisive action to stabilise the water supply network and reduce consumption through a comprehensive, multifaceted Water Demand Management programme,” he said.
Morero said measures include night-time throttling, pressure management, leak detection, targeted restrictions in high-consumption areas and accelerated infrastructure upgrades in Brixton, Crosby and Hursthill.
“These projects are expected to significantly improve capacity, operational flexibility, and resilience upon completion,” he said.
The City has also established an Intergovernmental Water War Room with Rand Water, the Gauteng government and national stakeholders to monitor the system in real time and fast-track repairs. Officials insist current pressure management measures do not signal a system collapse, but residents are urged to reduce consumption while stabilisation efforts continue.
While city leaders insist the system is under control, residents said dignity cannot wait, describing daily life as a humiliating struggle without the ability to shower, flush toilets, cook or go to work with basic hygiene.
The Star