5 September 2025 – 15:00
Media Release
“No Day Zero looming for Joburg”
These were the reassuring words from Johannesburg Water’s Managing Director, Ntshavheni Mukwevho, during Friday morning’s media briefing.
The Entity held a short presser to provide an update on the current state of Johannesburg’s water supply, with a strong focus on the water supply issues experienced by the Commando System.
“We have enough potable water coming through the system. However, the demand for potable water has increased and become higher over the years. That is why we are also appealing to users to please reduce consumption, over and above Johannesburg Water’s own internal efforts to manage demand,” said Mukwevho.
This increased demand for water supply is one of the reasons why the Commando System has been struggling with supply issues.
“The Commando System is our most sensitive system due to the lack of sufficient bulk infrastructure. It is precisely for that reason that the City of Johannesburg is investing over R600 million into upgrading this system, to improve the infrastructure and ensure a reliable water supply,” Mukwevho continued.
The upgrades of the Commando System (comprising of the Hursthill, Crosby, and Brixton systems) include the upgrading of the existing Crosby Pumpstation, including a new rising main from the Crosby Pumpstation to the inlet of the Hursthill Reservoir to augment and boost supply, as well as the upgrading of the supply line from the Commando Meter to the Hursthill and Crosby Reservoirs. This work is projected to be completed by December 2026.
Furthermore, Johannesburg Water’s construction of the new Brixton Reservoir and Tower is almost complete, with an estimated completion date of October 2025. This project aims to boost supply into the Commando System. The Hursthill 2 Reservoir will be repaired as part of WCWDM to refurbish leaking reservoirs, which all add to water losses.
Shorter-term strategies that the Entity is implementing to improve water supply and reduce water losses include the throttling (reducing the flow and pressure of water supply) of the systems, as well as retrofitting smart flow controllers to assist with reducing water losses, refurbishment of pressure reducing valves (PRVs) to help reduce the occurrence of burst pipes, as well as advanced leak detection.
“We want to ensure residents that Johannesburg Water is committed to ensuring these short term challenges are addressed. Thank you to our staff who are constantly on the ground working tirelessly to attend to service delivery issues; and thank you to our residents and customers for your patience and support during this time,” said Dineo Majavu, Johannesburg Water’s Board Chairperson.
The MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services, Cllr Jack Sekwaila, acknowledged the frustration and inconvenience water challenges have caused across the City.
“We have also witnessed the protests from various communities, particularly those that continually experience reduced to no water supply. It is imperative to note that the City does not deliberately deny residents water. The challenges occurring in areas struggling with consistent water supply is purely because of technical challenges and no malice on the part of Johannesburg Water.
“There is however a concerted effort by the Entity to reduce consumption across the City as part of the Water Conservation and Water Demand Management Strategy, thus the normalcy to reduced pressure and intermitted supply in the entire City. We fully understand the anger and anxiety being expressed by our communities where supply has been overly affected. We do not take it lightly and fully understand that no alternative supply can replace water supply coming from your tap. Johannesburg Water technical teams are employing various interventions aimed at gradually improving supply and optimising the system overall,” expressed Sekwaila.
Ends
Issued by Johannesburg Water Communication and Marketing.