Johannesburg residents should prepare for water restrictions this summer as the city battles rising demand, high consumption, and severe infrastructure challenges.
On Friday, Parliament’s Water and Sanitation Committee heard submissions from Mayor Dada Morero, Rand Water, and Joburg Water on the growing crisis. Officials warned that without urgent interventions, the city risks edging closer to a “day zero” scenario, EWN reports.
Morero said widespread illegal connections and resistance to prepaid meters were adding pressure to an already fragile system. “These challenges are worsening the crisis,” he told MPs.
Water and Sanitation director-general Sean Phillips noted that Gauteng residents use far more water per person than the global daily average. Compounding the problem, about a third of Johannesburg’s water is lost through leaks in ageing infrastructure. “In a water-scarce country, this is unsustainable,” Phillips said, stressing the need to cut per-capita usage across the province.
With summer bringing higher consumption, Morero confirmed restrictions were inevitable. “We will have to implement certain levels, including level 1 restrictions, to push consumption down,” he said.
Rand Water said it was supplying the maximum volumes allowed under its licence, but demand was preventing reservoirs from recovering. The city currently consumes about 1.7 billion litres of water a day — a figure that must be reduced by at least 200 million litres to stabilise the system.
MPs expressed concern at Johannesburg’s trajectory, urging swift action to manage usage before the crisis worsens.
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