The City of Tshwane’s water distribution network is buckling under severe strain, with critical reservoirs running dry and affected communities reporting a complete breakdown in communication from municipal authorities.
The City has confirmed that inflows from Rand Water remain at persistently low levels, a situation exacerbated by continued high consumption across the metro. The main receiving reservoirs in Regions 1, 3, and 4 have been hardest hit, with some now completely empty and levels at others described as critical.
In Soshanguve, residents say they have now gone a full week without any water supply. The reservoir feeding the area is empty, as is the Mabopane reservoir.
Community member Roy described the situation as a recurring crisis that residents face without warning or explanation.
“This is the worst situation that we are facing, and no one is telling us what actually is happening. It’s just an element of surprise,” Roy said. “There’s no water and no one is telling us what the problem is. Elderly people have to walk distances to go and get water.”
Roy said the community has received no communication from the City of Tshwane nor from their ward counselor throughout the week-long outage.
“Nothing from them. No one is saying anything. We are on our own, honestly,” he said.
Residents were seen collecting water from alternative sources as early as the pre-dawn hours. By 8 a.m., queues had formed with elderly community members particularly affected. No water tankers had been observed in the area, forcing residents to rely on their own resources.
The situation in Soshanguve mirrors a crisis reported from the same community last year, highlighting the recurring nature of the disruption. Roy said residents never know when outages will occur.
“We don’t even know when it’s going to happen. It’s just an element of surprise to us. When you wake up, there’s no water at all. We have children and toilets—things of that nature,” he said.
With the President scheduled to address the nation this evening in the lead-up to the State of the Nation Address, Roy called for accountability from public representatives.
“What we expect from the president is that the people who have been put to lead people must do the work they’ve been given to do. Now they’re just getting paid for doing nothing, honestly, because we have counselors that don’t even communicate with us what the situation is. It’s totally unhelpful.”
The City has warned that the network remains under critical pressure, but residents say they have received no direct communication regarding timelines for restoration or contingency measures.
Soshanguve as a whole continues to struggle with water access, with no immediate solution apparent and municipal reservoirs remaining empty.