Johannesburg Mayor Assures Water Supply Will Be Restored In All Areas By Christmas

Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero on Wednesday morning reassured residents that water will be back in all areas "by Christmas." This comes after planned maintenance over the weekend left people without water for 86 hours.

However, many households were still without water supply by Wednesday afternoon.

Speaking to the media during a visit to the Honeydew Reservoir and Tower in Roodepoort, Morero said the Council was pleased that the maintenance in that area had been completed.

"We are going to other areas to check them and make sure all of them are done and have water supply. But we can give a commitment to all the residents of Johannesburg that they will have water; all of them by Christmas. Others by tomorrow [with] some areas the water levels will be high," the mayor said, SA News reported.

He added, "So hopefully by Friday, all those areas that were affected by maintenance will have water. We are asking for residents to continue exercising a bit of patience. We are almost at the last mile and the water will be there."

The mayor explained that the maintenance and upgrades to the water system couldn't be delayed. He said the work was essential and needed to be done right away. Although they considered asking for a delay, it was crucial to carry out the maintenance now.

He also mentioned that many people leave Johannesburg during the holiday season, making it the best time to do the work. He assured that by Christmas Day, all maintenance would be finished and water would be restored.

The goal is also to encourage visitors to come to Johannesburg for Christmas, as everyone would want to be in a place with a reliable water supply.

Johannesburg Water echoed the mayor's message, asking residents to be patient as the water system recovers. In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, Johannesburg Water explained that after the maintenance work done by Rand Water, the city's water systems are showing gradual improvement.

However, the department pointed out that Rand Water's reservoir systems still need to fully recover before Johannesburg Water's reservoirs and towers can experience the full benefits of this recovery.

The statement added that the Johannesburg Water network is starting to show signs of improvement, leading to water being supplied to the system. This is why some areas are experiencing varying water pressure.