Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi says a R760 million infrastructure investment upgrade is underway in the city of Johannesburg to permanently resolve water issues.
Delivering the State of the Province Address at Nasrec in Johannesburg on Monday, the Premier said the upgrades will be implemented over a phased approach.
The construction of a new ground reservoir and a tower in Brixton is underway and will go live by this Saturday to improve water supply. Also, an emergency boosting pumping station will go live next week.
“The permanent solution will be realised once the construction of the 5km pipeline is concluded at the end of the year. Furthermore, the national government is assisting us in realising the return on investment made, so that the people of Hammanskraal, Bronkhorspruit, Kokosi, Fochville, Kwa-Thema and other areas can have their dignity restored,” he said.
Lesufi said the challenge was not water availability, but the interruptions caused by infrastructure failures, leaks and high-demand peaks.
“We are working as the three spheres of government to fix the water challenges in our province. We are about to conclude the expansion of our water infrastructure so that we can be ready to receive additional water from the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, thus cementing our water security permanently.”
On 27 January 2026, Johannesburg was hit by an unexpected water shortage. There was an explosion at the Rand Water plant. After the explosion, a fire hit the transmission machines, followed by a huge burst pipe.
“Immediately thereafter, our water supply was deeply affected. We then went into emergency mode. The area affected by the explosion was rectified within 72 hours, the fire extinguished, and the burst pipe repaired. However, the water levels were badly affected.”
The President sent a Ministerial team to the province and the water emergency team went into overdrive.
The Premier said this resulted in the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pemmy Majodina, giving an extraordinary proclamation to allow Rand Water to immediately extract more water from the Vaal River Integrated Water System.
The first suburban area to be hit hard was Midrand, where water has been fully restored.
“In Soweto, we have made great progress, except for Meadowlands Zones 3 and 4 and areas receiving water from the Doornkop reservoir. Our engineers have assured us that this will be addressed urgently; in the West Rand, water in Kagiso and the surrounding areas has been restored. Besides Bedfordview, Tsakane, and parts of Kwa-Thema, the Ekurhuleni water supply is now stable, including Tshwane, Sedibeng and West Rand.”
The Premier said there were areas where residents have a full supply but might be affected by pressure at night due to nighttime throttling. Nighttime throttling reduces pressure to allow system recovery.
The areas affected include Kensington, Bezuidenhout Valley, Bruma and Berea. Other areas that are still experiencing instability are those supplied through the Commando System and the Brixton Towers.
The areas that remain stubborn and difficult include parts of Westdene, Coronationville, Sophiatown, Melville, Emmarentia, and sections of Doornkop.
“To avoid the sporadic shortage of water, together with mayors and the national government, we prioritised the need for investment in water storage.
“In Midrand, we are building a new water storage facility to house 20 million litres. The private developers matched this investment with a donation of 10 million litres of water that will be available to the people of the Midrand. Similar investments are rising in Ekurhuleni, Tshwane and the West Rand municipalities.”
Lesufi said while progress is being made, the water challenges in the province need constant monitoring and support.
“We once more sincerely apologise to our residents that went and still go through the inconveniences caused by this unfortunate situation. Be assured of our commitment to permanently resolve this challenge.” - SAnews.gov.za
