Taps across Sandvlei Farm, Kramat, and Macassar Beach remain completely dry today (Tuesday 4 August) as affected communities enter their fourth consecutive day without a water supply.
The current outage follows three consecutive weekends of prolonged water disruptions, triggering widespread outrage, urgent demands for provincial intervention, and calls for an independent investigation into municipal infrastructure management.
In an urgent formal correspondence dispatched to municipal and provincial authorities, community representative Maryam Manuel Salie warned that the situation has rapidly deteriorated into a public health and service delivery emergency.
Salie noted that residents are facing severe hardship after reserves were completely exhausted, pointing out that warnings sent to the City as far back as 1 June 2026 regarding failing infrastructure went unheeded.
“Today marks the fourth consecutive day that our communities have been without a reliable water supply,” Salie wrote.
Many households have reported that there is not even a single drop of water coming from their taps… Access to clean water has effectively become a luxury in our communities despite being a constitutional right.
A major point of contention raised by residents is the striking infrastructure divide in the area. A major regional wastewater treatment plant sits directly on the doorstep of these communities, yet many local households remain entirely disconnected from formal sewer networks and basic water security.
Salie called for a dedicated meeting with City and Water and Sanitation officials to address the feasibility, planning, and timelines for connecting these historically neglected neighborhoods to the municipal sewer network.
Community activist Christiaan Stewart echoed these frustrations, slamming the local governance and response efforts.
“This is a complete failure of service delivery and an insult to our communities,” Stewart stated. “Every single day the pipes at Sandvlei, Kramat, Macassar Beach burst and thousands of litres of treated water pour into the ground while our neighborhoods suffer… To add insult to injury, we’re told ‘it’s Eskom power’ every time. So now we have two crises making each other worse — no power and no water infrastructure that works.”
Official alerts issued by the City of Cape Town’s Water and Sanitation Directorate reveal a repeating cycle of pipe bursts along a main supply line.
On Saturday, 1 August supply was shut off to repair a major burst on the 250mm diameter pipeline feeding the Macassar Reservoir.
On Monday, 3 August at 11:00, crews responding to reports discovered a new burst on the same 250mm pipeline section.
On Tuesday 4 August at 10:00, during the recommissioning of the pipeline following Monday’s repairs, another leak was identified, forcing technicians to shut the line down once more.
In response to growing anger, the City announced that four water tankers have been deployed to the area – two stationed at Kramat (along Beach Road) and two roaming Sandvlei. The City apologized for the repeated disruptions and requested that residents keep household taps closed until pressure stabilizes to avoid airlocks.
Community representatives have submitted a formal list of urgent interventions to the City of Cape Town, the Mayoral Committee (Mayco), the Mayor’s Office, and the Western Cape Premier’s Office, demanding emergency relief and a joint formal meeting between community leadership, Mayco, and the Premier’s Office, as well as a dedicated session with Water and Sanitation officials regarding sewer grid connections.
“Four days without water is unacceptable,” Salie concluded. “Our communities deserve reliable infrastructure, transparent communication, accountable governance, and uninterrupted access to clean, safe water.”
