Water cuts to hit Gauteng from Thursday as Rand Water starts infrastructure maintenance

702's John Perlman talks to Ferrial Adam, executive director of WaterCAN.

There are water cuts looming for residents of Gauteng as Rand Water undertakes critical maintenance on its key infrastructure starting on Thursday (29 May).

The bulk water utility will also be implementing a series of staggered water outages in Mpumalanga, North West and the Free State.

Some affected areas will have to cope with dry taps for up to 21 days.

Rand Water CEO Sipho Mosai has said that the operation is expected to improve water supply, reliability and efficiency.

This is a step in the right direction says environmental activist Ferrial Adam, executive director of WaterCAN.

However, she warns Joburg residents to be mindful that the completion of the Rand Water maintenance will not be the end of the story. (See affected areas in post below)

"We have to keep reminding people that Rand Water is your bulk supply and we definitely need the maintenance on that side, but it's the maintenance on the LOCAL GOVERNMENT level where you've got Johannesburg Water which is the one that's not yet fixed so we'll still experience some of the challenges we're experiencing right now."

Ferrial Adam, Executive Director - WaterCAN

Adam talks about a mismatch, in the sense that there needs to be more communication between these entities.

If Joburg didn't have the kind of failing water infrastructure it has right now, residents should be able to withstand this kind of maintenance, she says.

"Half of our reservoirs don't work properly or being bypassed and that is part of the challenge - we should be able to have enough reservoirs that maintenance should happen without us even knowing, it but because of the fragility of our system that is not possible."

Ferrial Adam, Executive Director - WaterCAN

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview