WATER POLITICS

South Africa’s commercial capital established a task force to coordinate its response to a deepening water crisis as protests over shortages intensify.

The Intergovernmental Water War Room will be used to coordinate and fast-track interventions, the City of Johannesburg said in an emailed statement. It dismissed speculation that the authorities are no longer able to supply residents — a scenario known as Day Zero.

While South Africa has managed to improve the performance of its state-owned power supplier Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., ending years of almost daily electricity outages, water shortages remain an ongoing issue. Public anger over poor service delivery contributed to the African National Congress losing its parliamentary majority in 2024 elections for the first time in 30 years.

Johannesburg, Africa’s richest city and home to about 4.8 million people, has faced growing water outages because of underinvestment in crumbling infrastructure and poor maintenance. In September, Johannesburg Water said it needs to spend 32.5 billion rand ($2 billion) over the next decade to address the crisis.

Weeks of Outages

In some parts of the city, which is currently run by a multi-party coalition led by the ANC, residents have been without water for weeks. That’s spawned protests in suburbs around Johannesburg, including one that took place in the northern area of Melville on Wednesday.

The authorities’ failure to address the water crisis will be a factor in local government elections scheduled to take place later this year or in early 2027. Helen Zille, the former mayor of Cape Town who plans to run for the position in Johannesburg, said repairing the city’s water infrastructure will top her agenda if she wins the race to replace current ANC Mayor Dada Morero.

“The first hundred days or so that we are going to be in office if we win this election, we’re going to put an adjustment budget on the table and water will be the number one priority in that adjustment budget,” she told reporters in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

The Johannesburg task force will bring together local authorities, utility Rand Water Services Ltd., the Gauteng provincial government and national representatives, the city said.

“This structure is actively monitoring the system in real time, coordinating technical responses, accelerating repairs, and implementing demand-management measures to stabilize supply and protect critical infrastructure,” it said.

The city is in talks with the National Treasury about ring-fencing some of the revenue it receives for water supply to reinvest in that service, Morero said at a briefing on Wednesday.

Water shortages have also emerged in the capital, Pretoria, and the tourism mecca of Cape Town.

Officials said supply was low in Pretoria because of depleted levels at key reservoirs, which can’t keep up with consumer demand amid high summer temperatures.

Cape Town residents were asked to “urgently reduce water consumption” due to a problem with valves on one of the city’s major reservoirs, according to spokesman Luthando Tyhalibongo, adding that they have since been repaired.

“We ask residents to keep using water sparingly until the system has stabilized,” Tyhalibongo said in a phone interview on Tuesday.