Media Statement

12 December 2019

Johannesburg Water scores BIG!!

Johannesburg Water scooped three coveted accolades at the recent Rand Water Forum held at the Emperors Palace on 30 November 2019.The entity received three awards on the following categories
• Operations and maintenance for Metro,
• Best Metropolitan Municipality and
• Partnerships.
Rand Water as the bulk water supply recognises performance to municipalities which include Gauteng, parts of Mpumalanga, Free State and North West.

Different municipalities competed in six categories, namely: Water Quality Assurance, Water Demand Management, Bulk Water Distribution, Finance, Industry and Partnerships.

The Water Quality Assurance category looked at best metropolitan municipalities, most improved municipality and the municipality that beat the odds against all expectations. In this category, there were 5 winners in total, all metros including Johannesburg Water received an award, and then an award went to the most improved municipality and an award went to the municipality the beast the odds against all expectations. In his acceptance speech, Chief Operations Officer Derrick Kgwale thanked Rand Water and acknowledged that this will inspire confidence in the team to do even more this year in order to sustain performance, by ensuring improved water and sanitation services to the City of Johannesburg.

Metropolitan Municipalities set the benchmark for good partnerships in the water sector and can be measured by:

• Regular attendance of water quality meetings to enhance information sharing.
• A water quality monitoring programme aligned to the latest legislative requirements to measure product quality
• Show initiative in reporting and resolving water quality challenges
• Regular liaison and communication to optimise water quality management procedures

The Bulk Water Distribution category looked at Operations and Maintenance for Metros (Johannesburg Water won here) – The criteria for this award was as follows: The operations and maintenance award is awarded to a customer who has been instrumental in assisting with shutdown planning, reporting of leaks and co-operation during water restrictions in high demand season.

Johannesburg Water is a service-delivery oriented Entity which has identified key programmes to ensure delivery of reliable and quality services to all residents, including marginalised areas.

END
Media enquiries:

Mr Isaac Dhludhlu
Communications Manager
011 688 1577
072 638 5346
Isaac.Dhludhlu@jwater.co.za

The awards are awarded to municipalities within the Rand Water area of supply, which includes Gauteng, parts of Mpumalanga, parts of the Free State and parts of North West.

Click to see the Newssplash Randwater Awards

Jeppestown Sewer Pipe Replacement Phase 4

Johannesburg Water has undertaken a sewer pipe replacement project in Jeppestown to the value of just over R12 million. Residents of Jeppestown have been overwhelmed with constant sewer blockages due to aging infrastructure, the project, therefore involves the replacement of the existing sewer infrastructure in order to avoid pollution to the environment due to overflows and contamination of the nearby water sources.

The pipe replacement will cover Main Street, Marshall Street, Park Street, Fawcus Street, Jules Street, Doran Street, Tucker Street, Wolhuter Street, Grace Street, Berg Street, Stone Street, and Long Street in Jeppestown with proper sanitation services.

The construction taking place in the project includes replacement of just over 2, 9 km of asbestos cement and concrete pipes with High-density polyethylene pipe (HDPE) pipes ranging between 160 mm and 200 mm in diameter using pipe cracking and the construction of new house connections. Other activities are the demolishing of old brick manholes and the construction of new precast manholes, conducting various quality-control tests and reinstating all fabricated surfaces.

The Jeppestown Sewer Pipe Replacement project created jobs for 37 general workers, and provided an opportunity for a technical small, micro and medium enterprises (SMME) and a security company amongst other positions.

This project commenced in June and is expected to be completed at the end of November 2019.  MMC Nico de Jager- thanked the contractor working on-site and urged to continue to complete the work within scope to allow residents of Jeppestown to continue with their normal lives but also the project will improve their customer experience in the City of Johannesburg.

Ends

JOHANNESBURG WATER IMPLEMENTS WATER DEMAND LEVY TO ALL CUSTOMERS

All water prepaid customers across the City of Johannesburg are reminded about the new water demand management levy that has been implemented from 1 July 2019 going forward (according to the Council Approved 2019/20 Tariffs Report),  that there is a standard once-off  monthly fixed charge will be charged when one buys water credit, this is a fixed charge for all City of Johannesburg customers using conventional meters including prepaid customers in the greater Soweto, Riverside View and Cosmo City.

The fixed charge is mandatory and will be charged monthly, meaning customers cannot buy water for less than R25 as they need to cover the monthly fixed charge before they can get sufficient credit to last them for the month, customers are also informed not to buy water in bulk to last them for more than a month as they will automatically accumulate the monthly water fixed charge on their accounts for months they didn’t buy any credit.

The City is also offering the Expanded Social Package (ESP) to the indigent. The ESP targets vulnerable residents in the city such as the unemployed, youth, people with disabilities, displaced persons and senior citizens. People with different levels of need will qualify for different levels of subsidy according to the City’s measure of affordability. Please visit the nearest CoJ service centre to be assisted. The levy is also applicable to all customers on ESP if they use more than the allocation per month.

City residents are urged to reduce their water consumption patterns as water usage has increased at an alarming rate and this is of serious concern given the recent heat wave we have been experiencing. The entity has begun throttling reservoirs at the rate of 20% to 40% in line with restrictions imposed by Rand Water. We need all hands on deck to ensure that we reduce consumption in order to protect the infrastructure.

Ends

Media enquiries:

Mr Isaac Dhludhlu
Communications Manager
011 688 1577
072 638 5346
Isaac.Dhludhlu@jwater.co.za