Joburg Mayor Dada Morero Outlines Master Plan to Tackle City's Water Crisis

Johannesburg Executive Mayor Dada Morero has announced a new master plan to address the city's severe water challenges, assuring residents that officials are on top of the problem. The strategy was unveiled during a media briefing following widespread resident protests over prolonged water outages and decaying infrastructure.

The core of the city's new plan focuses on four main issues: replacing aging pipes, significantly reducing water losses from leaks, cracking down on illegal water connections, and managing overall consumption.

To achieve this, the city will partner with the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) to conduct consistent cut-offs of illegal connections, which have been cited as a major contributor to water loss. The mayor also stated that the provincial government would provide support for an accelerated program to repair leaks.

As an immediate intervention, the city has acquired 20 new water tankers to deploy to affected communities. In areas like Coronationville, Johannesburg Water is implementing a "balancing act" by throttling water supply between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. to allow reservoirs to recover.

The mayor's briefing comes amid significant political pressure. The DA has alleged that R4 billion was recently reallocated away from Johannesburg Water, while Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation has criticized the city's leadership for a "lackadaisical attitude" and failure to ring-fence funding for critical infrastructure projects.

Here is a video from the media briefing where the mayor addresses the ongoing water challenges. Joburg mayor briefs media on ongoing water challenges