Joburg’s water woes continue in 2026 with 22 major outages in two weeks

It’s a new year, but Johannesburg still faces the same old water problems. Since 31 December there have been at least 22 major water outages that have left taps dry across large parts of the city.

A pipe burst in Houghton recurred twice within the space of a week, Selby has had no water for more than six months, and daily throttling and water tankers are still a way of life for residents of Kensington, Bez Valley and the CBD.

There was a major water contamination issue in Bezuidenhout Valley on 16 December. Residents reported “smelly water”, and Johannesburg Water said contaminated water from a burst sewerage pipe had leaked into a drinking water pipe where repairs were being carried out. Residents had been reporting the pipe leak since March 2023.

Joburg Water instructed residents of Albertina Sisulu Road and surrounding streets (6th, 7th, 8th and 9th avenues, and 10th Street) in the Joburg CBD and Bezuidenhout Valley not to drink water while they tested and flushed the system. Water was turned off on 17 December.

E. coli (faecal matter) was found in the initial sampling, and Joburg Water flushed the system for the next three weeks. On 5 January, no traces of E. coli were found in the system, but there were elevated levels of coliform (commonly found in soil), and additional doses of chlorine were put into the system. Safe drinking water was finally restored on 10 January.

R27bn infrastructure backlog

Large sections of the city’s water infrastructure were built 80 years ago, and a substantial proportion of the 12,364 kilometres of distribution pipes needs to be replaced. In the last financial year, the city managed to replace only 17km of these pipes. According to the Gauteng Water Security Dashboard, the city reported 20,915 leaks and pipe bursts between 1 July and 15 December 2025.

Of the city’s 98 reservoirs, 21 are in urgent need of repair, while 27% of the water Joburg buys from Rand Water is lost through leaks and illegal connections. Over the last 15 years, investment in infrastructure replacement has declined rapidly. Joburg Water needs more than R27-billion to repair and upgrade its infrastructure. Its budget for the current financial year is R1.7-billion.

Read more: Joburg’s water infrastructure – a picture of decline and underinvestment

Dr Ferrial Adam, the executive manager of WaterCAN, said the city had been struggling to effectively address its water issues.

“We presented the mayor with a set of demands and suggestions to sort this out, but we have only had an acknowledgement of our demands and a vague indication of a meeting at some stage. The water and sanitation problem is a national crisis, but we are not getting it right,” she said.

A major obstacle hampering Joburg Water’s (JW’s) ability to address the water infrastructure backlogs, said Adam, is that the entity does not control its own budget.

“The Joburg Water budget must be ringfenced to pay for projects. The new Brixton Tower and reservoir is 10 months behind schedule because the contractor walked off the job several times due to non-payment. Johannesburg Water needs its own budget, and it needs a bigger budget,” she said.

“The city’s way of managing its finances (sweeping) leaves JW cash-strapped and unable to pay contractors on time.”

Solutions to the water crisis, said Adam, include prioritising repairs and better communication between departments so that new developments are not approved where there is no infrastructure to sustain them. “There is a plan to deal with this, but it is not being implemented. Our water systems are so bad that they will become unfixable if not addressed quickly,” she said.

Joburg’s unplanned water interruptions from 31 December 2025 to January 15, 2026

Grosvenor and Main Roads, Bryanston – burst pipe. Affected areas: Berkeley Street, Westminster Street and Grosvenor Road.

Lion Pride and Lanseria – pipe burst. Affected areas: Lion Pride, Thabo Mbeki informal settlement, Malatji informal settlement, Lanseria International Airport, Lanseria Business Park and Lanseria’s surroundings. The same pipe burst again at a different location, prolonging repairs.

Blue Hills – major pipe burst. Affected areas: Blue Hills and its surroundings.

President Park and Glen Austin – three major pipe bursts. Affected areas: President Park and Glen Austin.

New Canada Road, Pennyville – burst pipe. Affected areas: Noordgesig and Pennyville.

Opera Road, Radiokop – pipe burst. Affected areas: Parts of Radiokop.

Boundary Road, Kliptown – major pipe burst. Affected areas: Eldorado Park extensions 7 and 9, Kliptown and Klipspruit West.

Houghton Estate – major pipe burst. Affected areas: Houghton Estate, Norwood, Killarney, Orange Grove, Abbotsford, Saxonwold, Athol, Inanda, Melrose, Rosebank, Parkview, Parktown North, Parkwood, Forest Town, Hyde Park, Athol Oakland, Waverly, Birdhaven and surrounding areas. The pipe burst for a second time, necessitating another shutdown in the affected areas.

Blairgowrie Reservoir – leaking valve. Affected areas: Blairgowrie and Bordeaux.

Yeoville Reservoir and Pump Station – low reservoir levels. Affected areas: Yeoville, Bellevue, Observatory, Linksfield, Berea, Troyville, Braamfontein, Parktown, the CBD and Village Deep.

Ferndale – burst pipe. Affected areas: West Avenue.

Ouklip Road, Helderkruin – burst pipe. The whole area was affected.

Randjieslaagte Reservoir – burst pipe in Lyndhurst meant the water supply was isolated at the reservoir. Affected areas: Bramley, Sunningdale, Silvamonte, Sandringham, Fairmont, Lyndhurst, Kew, Lombardy East and West, Rembrandt Park, River Park and Parks of Alexander.

Brixton Reservoir and Tower – low levels due to a power failure at the Eikenhof pu. Affected areas: Richmond, Rossmore, Brixton, The View, Auckland Park, Vrededorp, Mayfair, Crosby and surrounding areas.

Kibler Park Reservoir – major pipe burst. Affected areas: Kibler Park, Mayfield Park, Rispark and surroundings.

Linmeyer – unknown water supply interruption. Affected areas included: Bianca, Adrian, Retha, Sophie, Elizabeth and Louise streets.

Crown Garden Reservoir and Towers – low incoming supply, outlet closed overnight. Affected areas: Kibler Park, Mayfield Park, Rispark and surrounds.

Jabulani Reservoir – isolated due to two major pipe bursts. Affected areas: Dhlamini, Dube, Molopo, Moletsane, Moroka, Jabavu, Orlando West, Senaoane, Mapetla, Mofolo, Phiri and Tladi.

South Hills Tower – sudden supply interruption due to poor incoming supply. Affected areas: Linmeyer, Oakdene, Risana, South Hills and surroundings.

Helderkruin Tower – burst pipe at the tower. Affected areas: Helderkruin and Wilro Park.

Kyalami – repairs to a pressure-reducing valve, water supply cut off. Affected areas: Barbeque Downs, Kyalami Glen, Kyalami on Main and surrounds.

Illovo Reservoir and Tower – burst water pipe. Affected areas: 17 suburbs including Atholl, Sandhurst, Wierda Valley, Dunkeld, Sandton CBD, Hyde Park and Morningside.

*Information obtained from Joburg Water’s WhatsApp channel. DM

This story was produced by Our City News, a non-profit newsroom that serves the people of Johannesburg.