Mass protest in Johannesburg planned

Civil society group WaterCAN has announced a mass protest in Johannesburg on Saturday, 1 November.

This is to demand urgent action to address what is described as a “human rights and economic emergency” caused by the city’s water crisis.

The protest has been organised by a coalition of residents, community organisations, and civil society groups.

These include WaterCAN, Abahlali Freedom Park, Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, CADE, Defend our Democracy, JoburgCAN, Joburg Crisis Alliance, Professionals and Business for Change, and others.

“We are fed up. We have waited too long while our taps run dry. This is not just about water – it’s about respect, accountability, and the right to live with dignity,” the coalition said.

The protest, which will be peaceful, will comprise testimonies from affected residents, civil society leaders, and technical experts, and will take place outside the Johannesburg Council Chambers.

Joburg executive mayor Dada Morero will then be called on to respond to the coalition’s demands.

The coalition intends to forge a meaningful working relationship with the city, should these be met. If they are not, the group has stated that it will launch an escalation campaign.

A  letter has also been sent to Morero in the meantime outlining eight urgent demands that the coalition believes will restore accountability, transparency, and dignity in the city’s failing water system.

“Millions of Johannesburg residents are living without reliable access to water. Hospitals, schools, and small businesses are being forced to operate without this most basic necessity,” it reads.

“This is not just an infrastructure problem – it’s a violation of constitutional rights.”

Among the demands made in the letter are that all funding for water and sanitation be ringfenced, that the R4 billion that disappeared from Joburg Water’s account be accounted for, and that an investigation be conducted into the use of water tankers.

The letter also demanded that piped water be provided to informal settlements and that the Joburg Water Board be reformed to ensure equal representation from civil society, business, and government, thereby promoting maximum accountability.

There has also been an appeal for national and provincial intervention, with the coalition calling on the Gauteng Provincial Government, Department of Water and Sanitation, and the Presidency to provide the technical and financial support to address the crisis.

“We are calling for partnership, not conflict. The solutions exist – what’s missing is political will and transparency. We want to work with the City to make the Turnaround Strategy a reality,” the coalition said.

Joburg’s full-blown water crisis

Specific neighbourhoods in the city have been experiencing week-long outages, with areas such as Westbury, Ebony Park, and parts of Soweto enduring dry taps for close to a month.

Even Sandton, one of the wealthiest areas on the continent and the suburb that will host world leaders for the G20 summit next month, faced a week-long outage in August.

Many Gauteng metros are bemoaning consumption, but experts say such warnings seek to shift blame from municipal underinvestment in infrastructure onto residents and businesses.

Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) Director-General Dr Shaun Phillips recently told Parliament that Rand Water provides sufficient water to meet municipal needs.

“If they were to reduce leaks in their distribution systems and invest more in distribution infrastructure, including storage and pumping capacity, this issue would not exist,” he said.

WaterCAN’s Dr Ferrial Adam recently told Newsday that “the majority of dry taps we see today are not caused by natural scarcity but by governance failures.”

“Billions have been spent on upgrades that never materialised or were riddled with corruption,” said Adam.

“The problem is less about not having water than not managing water.” “Without competent governance, no amount of rainfall or dam storage will translate into reliable taps.”

Similarly, water expert Dr Anthony Turton told Newsday that “there is a 100% correlation with governance failure as nowhere in South Africa do we have an absolute water scarcity.”

“Taps are dry because municipalities have failed for a variety of reasons, including the mismanagement of funds, inability to collect revenues, lack of ring-fencing for finances and the loss of technical skills due to purges.”