Tshwane water system recovers following strategic load shifting

The City of Tshwane says its water system is showing signs of recovery after water was redirected to reservoirs in communities experiencing outages.

Water supply to several reservoirs, including Louwlardia, Brakfontein, Bakenkop, and Rooihuiskraal, was shut off from 8:00 p.m. Thursday night until 5:00 a.m. Friday morning to support recovery efforts.

This forms part of the measures announced by Deputy Water and Sanitation Minister David Mahlobo.

Earlier in the week, he said "load shifting"—where water is redirected from reservoirs with adequate supply to feed those facing shortages—would be implemented in Gauteng, parts of the North West, and Mpumalanga.

The measures come as water outages have sparked widespread frustration, with some residents taking to the streets in protest in parts of Gauteng.

Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba says there are still areas of concern in Tshwane.

"The only area of concern at this stage is the Klapperkop Reservoir, which is being attended to by the technical teams from both Rand Water and the City of Tshwane. The on-site teams are currently conducting troubleshooting and assessing system performance. All other reservoirs in Regions 3 and 4 are healthy and stable."