Residents in Johannesburg are struggling with severe water shortages as the city continues to lose about 655 million litres of water every day through burst and ageing pipes.
In Hillbrow, 17 year old student Thandani Masangu said, he spent three hours searching for water. “I feel really broken,” he said.
The city’s water utility, Johannesburg Water, has admitted that its infrastructure is old. Its senior manager for innovation and technology, Zakhele Khuzwayo, said, “The infrastructure is old. A lot of it is more than 50 years old.”
The shortages have become a major source of frustration, particularly as South Africa prepares for local elections expected in November.
Some residents have gone for years without a reliable water supply, while others depend on municipal tankers to collect water.
Wealthier residents are increasingly drilling boreholes to secure their own supplies, highlighting the growing gap between communities that can afford private alternatives and those that continue to depend on the struggling municipal system.
