Key facts
- Johannesburg is losing an estimated 655 million liters (173 million gallons) of water daily due to aging infrastructure and burst pipes.
- Water shortages are a significant issue for residents, with some areas experiencing outages for years.
- The crisis is impacting voter sentiment ahead of upcoming local elections, eroding support for the ruling ANC.
- Wealthier residents are increasingly investing in private water solutions like boreholes.
- Johannesburg Water cites aging infrastructure, over 50 years old, as a primary cause.
- The City of Johannesburg faces a budgetary crisis, with its latest budget deemed unfunded by the National Treasury.
Johannesburg is grappling with a severe water crisis, losing an estimated 655 million liters (173 million gallons) of its supply daily due to aging and damaged infrastructure. This daily frustration, with dry taps becoming a norm for many residents, is increasingly fueling anger and impacting voter support for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) ahead of local elections expected by November.
Residents like 17-year-old student Thandani Masangu describe feeling "broken" by the constant search for water, with some areas experiencing outages for over three years. Johannesburg Water, the municipal utility, acknowledges that much of its infrastructure is over 50 years old and in need of replacement. However, the slow pace of maintenance and repairs, coupled with a mounting budgetary crisis at the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, has exacerbated the problem. The National Treasury recently withheld funding from the city due to failures in financial management, deeming its 97.1 billion rand ($6 billion) budget unfunded.
In response to the ongoing failures, wealthier inhabitants are taking matters into their own hands. They are drilling boreholes to secure independent water supplies and investing in solar panels to cope with power cuts, effectively bypassing the municipality and potentially starving it of funds needed for essential repairs. Albertus Lombaard of the Borehole Water Association estimates that 10,000 boreholes have been drilled in Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg, over the past decade. Litigation lawyer Thea Kilian spent 100,000 rand to drill a borehole, ensuring her property remains supplied.
The water crisis has become a potent symbol of broader municipal failures, mirroring issues seen in other public infrastructure. Analysts also point to climate change as a factor worsening the situation by increasing water loss through evaporation. The ANC has previously suffered electorally due to poor service delivery, seeing its vote share drop significantly in the 2021 local elections. Some residents, like former ANC member Lindiwe Ndlovu, have become disillusioned, citing issues with water supply restoration after being cut off for non-payment, even after a court order.