In the past few weeks, the City of Johannesburg has been confronted with bulk water supply disruptions that have affected major hospitals in the province. During the crisis, Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda was accused of being unavailable to resolve the issues. Yesterday, Gwamanda addressed the city’s water crisis and his unavailability in meetings to resolve the matter.
RAND WATER EXPERIENCED CHALLENGES
Speaking after his visits to the Rand Water facilities, Gwamanda said that in August and September alone, the city’s bulk water supplier experienced numerous challenges in their infrastructure, which negatively impacted different water supply systems in the city. He said in a report, Rand Water indicated that their Zuikerbosch Water Purification Plant power lines, were affected by the severe thunderstorm around midnight on Tuesday, 19 September, which subsequently tripped the plant.
The report also revealed attempts to restart the plant showed faults along the overhead power lines supplying the auxiliary plant. "It’s stated that the power failure resulted in the loss of 2 000 Mega litres per day. Consequently, this load reduction had impacted all municipalities supplied from Zuikerbosch Water Purification Plant. The Eikenhof system which supplies the Randburg, Roodepoort, Soweto, Brixton, Crosby and Hurst Hill water supply systems was also affected resulting in customers experiencing low water pressure to no water supply for days after this incident," Gwamanda said. He added that there have been subsequent incidents on the 21st and 24th of September 2023 that have exacerbated the water supply situation affecting residents of the city and surrounding municipalities. "As the mayor of Johannesburg, my primary responsibility is to the residents of the city and to ensure that we mitigate the impact to residents of the bulk water supply disruptions and to provide alternative water supply to residents, our hospitals and other critical institutions across the city," said Gwamanda.
ACCUSED OF BEING UNAVAILABLE TO DEAL WITH ISSUES
Two weeks ago, Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu accused Gwamanda of missing water crisis meetings. On Friday 22 September, Mchunu had a meeting with different stakeholders to discuss ways to manage severe water cuts across Joburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni. The minister questioned why Gwamanda was absent. Gwamanda defended himself and said that he attends meetings on invitation and no such invitation was formally submitted to him for a meeting with Mchunu. "Similarly, just as the Minister is appointed by the President to oversee Water and Sanitation, as the mayor I have an appointed Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) responsible for Water Services. The MMC has been in full attendance of the Mchunu’s meetings and has briefed a Special Mayoral Committee meeting that I convened specifically on the water situation on the challenges expressed by the minister," he said. Gwamanda also said that minister Mcunu has a responsibility to supply bulk water and the current disruptions indicate a monumental incapacity to do so currently. "He should be best advised to urgently attend to matters within his area of responsibility and to avoid creating dramatic smoke screens to shield the incompetence of his officials and entities,"
