A Soweto resident hauls a trolley with buckets of water after the supply had been cut off for nearly a week. (Photo: Bheki Simelane) “It was all of us,” Ivy Ramaphosa, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s sister, told Daily Maverick on Monday evening, 20 April.
For nearly seven days, Chiawelo, Protea and parts of Dlamini in Soweto have been without water due to a maintenance programme that was meant to see water restored on 17 April.
Asked what she was doing to get by, Ivy said she was getting a bit of water from her daughter’s place.
“Somehow, she had drips coming out of one of her cold water taps, but she also had nothing coming out of the hot water taps, like all of us,” said the president’s sister.
“There was also a delivery truck delivering water around the area, but few people who had water stored helped other residents, who have had nothing for days,” she said.
“A few people had water, but many were hit hard.”
/file/attachments/orphans/IMG_20260420_120345_069_420111.jpg "Protea South residents in Soweto were searching for water on Monday morning following nearly a week of cuts. (Photo: Bheki Simelane)")
Johannesburg Water blamed the taps running dry on the cleaning of the Chiawelo Reservoir. Residents, however, say the utility’s own communication promised full restoration by 17 April 2026. Yet, days later, the promise has evaporated – leaving households parched and patience running thin.
Joburg Water stated on Sunday: “Water quality collected from the Chiawelo Reservoir has been tested by our laboratory. The results confirm that the water is compliant with required standards. As a result, the outlet of the Soweto Reservoir is now being opened to restore supply to all affected areas. Supply restoration to the listed areas is currently under way. Restoration will be gradual as the system builds capacity.”
Joburg Water spokesperson Nombuso Shabalala told Daily Maverick on Sunday evening, “The reservoir was being cleaned as part of routine maintenance. This was communicated... Water is currently being restored.
Despite this, many residents in the affected areas were still without water on Monday.
“Some areas have started receiving water while other areas, especially in high-lying areas, will receive water as the system stabilises,” said Shabalala.
Ivy Ramaphosa welcomed the maintenance programme, saying it might also alleviate the constantly blocked sewerage problems.
No lifelines
For Mashudu Nemanani, 50, of Protea South, the cruel arithmetic of the lengthy water unavailability is simple: seven days, zero drops. A Wits University employee, he told Daily Maverick on Monday that the hardest part of the outage was that the contingency measures in the form of water delivery trucks were simply inadequate.
“The hardest part has been enduring a week without water, with no fallback in sight,” Nemanani said.
“In past crises, we could at least rely on tanks and delivery trucks. This time, even those lifelines are drying up. The unavailability spreads so wide that even the very sources we usually turn to are themselves empty.”
“I hadn’t had a bath for four straight days,” Nemanani said. “But this morning, I gathered a little that was coming out from my water tap and prioritised bathing.”
“What we are asking for from Johannesburg Water is more Jojo tanks so that we do not have to go through such a terrible experience again when maintenance is under way. The tanks which they deployed here at the height of the water crisis are not enough,” he said.
/file/attachments/orphans/IMG_20260420_114341_015_586601.jpg "Protea South resident Mashudu Nemanani describes his struggle after water had been cut off for a week. (Photo: Bheki Simelane)")
Protea resident, Katlego Bobe, 22, spoke to Daily Maverick as she pushed a trolley with four 25-litre containers full of water on Monday morning.
“I had to go out and look for some water because for the past seven days I haven’t taken a bath,” Bobe said.
“You are told that the water delivery truck is in Zone 1, and that you must wait, but when it finally arrives here, it’s only passing because it’s already empty.”
She said, “Why do the trucks roll past residents clutching empty containers, only to disappear into the township’s interior?”
“I didn’t care much about cooking and food. My main issue was being unable to bath. That’s why I had to go out and look for water. I cannot bank on the water delivery truck,” Bobe said.
She said a water tanker first stopped in her area on Thursday, but so many people turned up that the community quarrelled with the driver. Another tanker returned on Friday.
“No one was harmed. Some people quarrelled with the driver and told him that he must arrive early,” she said.
Hygiene concerns
In Chiawelo, Simon Nemtandzani, 57, began getting water at low pressure on Monday. He was relieved to be able to do his washing and see clean clothes on the washing line.
Nemtandzani said that in his household, they were not concerned about matters such as cooking, as they could buy takeaways on the assumption that water would soon be restored. He was worried about hygiene.
“Use of the toilet, for me, that is the most worrying thing. You want to be able to flush the toilet as it is inside the house,” he said.
/file/attachments/orphans/IMG_20260420_124636_977_778206.jpg "Simon Nemtandzani admires his washing line after finally being able to do some laundry after water cuts in his area. (Photo: Bheki Simelane)")
Other Soweto residents have taken it upon themselves to monitor progress at the Chiawelo Reservoir. A Chiawelo man, who preferred not to be identified, told Daily Maverick that as a community, they usually went to the reservoir if they were aware that maintenance work would affect them.
The self-proclaimed Sanco member said he and other community members spent two days with the City teams at the reservoir.
“They were removing the small round pipes and replacing them with big ones for ease of flow, to, among other things, avoid pipe blockages,” he said. “So, they were fixing that entire pipe infrastructure.”
Asked why they decided to join the Joburg Water teams on the ground, he responded: “We were very worried.” DM