Some vow to reconnect illegal pipes while others endure constant outages

While residents from Phumla Mqashi informal settlement vowed to reconnect their water pipes after Johannesburg Water disconnected them, just a few metres away in Lenasia South, paying residents were feeling the brunt of constant water outages. 

Violent protests erupted at the informal settlement in the south of Johannesburg with residents of the informal settlement resisting the disconnection of illegally connected pipes.

Johannesburg Water and JMPD officials were met with resistance and hostility from residents who complained that they were not told about the disconnections and questioned the timing of the operation. 

JMPD officials fired rubber bullets at residents who had closed in on officials in the settlement who were digging up pipes with TLB (tractor-loader-backhoe) machines.

Within an hour, officials called off the planned operation as residents who blocked off the two main entrances into the area mobilised and a stand-off ensued. 

Residents subsequently barricaded the Golden High Way with stones, briefly burnt tyres and partially closed off the highway before a large contingent of public order police arrived to stop them. 

The operation, which was part of Joburg Water’s ongoing efforts to address the substantial challenges posed by unauthorised connections to the city’s water network was abandoned.

The illegal connections have been deemed a major contributor to water and revenue losses.

Phumolo Khoza, a resident in the informal settlement said city officials should have at least warned them before cutting their water supply. She claimed their settlement was registered at the city, that they have stand numbers and that they should be allowed to connect water to their homes. 

“They are cutting water, what are we going to drink?” she asked. 

She added that their children had just started exams and wanted to know how they would bath before school. 

“How are we going to cook, why didn't they tell us that they did not want us to connect our pipes? The way we had [illegally] connected, we are going to do the same and reconnect again,” she said. 

She added that they couldn't live without water and they had been illegally connected since 2017. 

“Yes we know we did not occupy this land properly but that is history, we need water. We are not fighting anyone, why are there so many settlements with water and do not pay but they choose us?” she asked. 

Kagiso Manganye a regional manager for Deep South Ennerdale depot said residents had illegally connected to the Lenasia system, affecting paying customers. 

Just a few metres from the informal settlement is Lenasia South ext 4, which is separated from the informal settlement by a highway. Residents there are experiencing constant water outages and sometimes have water flowing for only an hour a day. 

“We don’t have water even now,” said Lydia Sibisi who had moved to the area about three years ago. 

She said seven people including children stay at their home but they only get water in their taps around 8pm, and sometimes only around 4am.

She said there was limited communication from officials about the water issue and residents had learnt to live with limited water. She said they had to readjust their lives as their plight had been persisting since she moved to the area. 

“It has been the same routine. We have to store water in buckets. If it is finished then it is hard luck. We make sure that we store water in buckets especially because we have children in the house,” she said. 

“They must stop cutting water. What makes me mad is that they don't do the meter reading and when your bill comes back you will be shocked. Most of the hours we don’t have water,” she said.

A resident who is also a CPF member in Lenasia South, Ridman Mahomed, echoed the same sentiments. 

He said the problem of water had been ongoing for too long and the newly built reservoir was not supplying water to the area. 

“Everyone deserves water. Here we get water for only about an hour a day. There are children, we have elderly people,” he said. 

He added that businesses and households in the area were being charged exorbitant amounts without actually getting water. “There are ratepayers paying rates and they are suffering because people are paying a lot of money.”

Manganye said they have three systems in Region G, including Orange Farm, Lenasia and Ennerdale systems.

“Now we have areas that are reticulated, meaning those people who are paying for services have meters in their yard and we are able to account for that water. We have many informal settlements within the region including Phumla Mqashi,” he said. 

He added the informal settlements were the main contributors to the non-revenue water in the region.

He said previously they had put water tanks in the area with about more than 17,000 households but people vandalised them after realising that they could illegally connect taps to their homes. 

“When we engaged with the councillor they told us the figures are about 17,000 households. If you have an informal settlement there is no reticulation so you have to provide an alternative water supply,” he said. 

He added the disconnection at this informal settlement was complicated as it had multiple connections.

“So far we have done an investigation under the Lenasia system and we have identified six informal settlements that have illegally connected.”

Joburg Water said its operations team will discuss a way forward regarding implementing disconnections following the incident, as well as restoring water tank services in the area.

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