JUST IN: Rand Water announces supply cuts to Ekurhuleni, Tshwane and four local municipalities - IOL
The latest water supply disruption comes as the City of Tshwane faces mounting pressure over a contamination outbreak that has left 833 people with gastrointestinal illness.
Rand Water has announced water supply disruptions affecting the Cities of Ekurhuleni and Tshwane, as well as four local municipalities, following a power outage at its Mapleton Pumping Station in Boksburg.
In a statement on Tuesday, Rand Water said the City of Ekurhuleni had reported an electricity outage affecting its infrastructure at approximately 8.35pm on November 2, cutting power to the Mapleton Pumping Station.
“The station has been unable to pump water since the interruption,” said spokesperson Makenosi Maroo.
She said the failure to repair a breaker and urgently resolve the outage had placed water supplies to the affected municipalities at risk.
“Despite repeated enquiries throughout the night, Rand Water has received no firm commitment from the City of Ekurhuleni on when electricity will be restored.
“Rand Water remains unable to resume pumping and has no control over the restoration of the city's electricity supply.
“At the time of this statement, the city had not communicated an estimated restoration time.”
Maroo said water shortages were therefore expected in the cities of Ekurhuleni and Tshwane, as well as the Lesedi, Govan Mbeki, Victor Khanye and Thembisile Hani local municipalities.
She said Rand Water had requested the City of Ekurhuleni to treat the outage as an emergency.
The latest disruption comes as the City of Tshwane faces mounting pressure to restore safe water supplies following a contamination crisis linked to 833 reported cases of gastrointestinal illness.
Affected residents have said inadequate water tanker deliveries are making daily life increasingly difficult.
The outbreak has affected communities including Zithobeni, Bronkhorstspruit, Dark City, Rethabiseng and Sokhulumi.
A joint government statement initially reported 408 cases of gastrointestinal illness between October 7 and 18, with most of those affected being children under the age of four.
The number of reported cases has since increased to 833, with three residents still in hospital.
The Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Works has been identified as a major contributor to the outbreak after the City of Tshwane failed to chlorinate water before supplying it to residents.
The city also failed to inform residents that the water had not been chlorinated.
It has since suspended the head of the treatment plant pending an investigation into the incident.
The crisis has raised serious questions about municipal oversight, water safety and the city's ability to provide residents with reliable access to clean drinking water.
