Note to Editors: Attached please find a soundbite in English here by Nico De Jager MPL.
The latest power failure at Rand Water’s Zuikerbosch Water Treatment Plant, and the electrical fault at Palmiet system that is reducing pumping capacity at Palmiet, once again exposes the dangerous vulnerability of Gauteng’s water infrastructure.
It is simply unacceptable that in 2026, a single electrical failure can threaten the water supply of millions of residents and businesses across Johannesburg and surrounding municipalities.
This is not just an electricity problem. It is an infrastructure planning and management failure that demands urgent answers.
How can infrastructure supplying South Africa’s economic heartland remain so vulnerable? Where are the backup electricity supplies, standby pumping systems, and alternative supply arrangements? Why are critical points of failure not being identified and eliminated before disaster strikes?
A single electrical fault should never have the potential to become a regional water crisis.
Rand Water and the responsible authorities must explain what contingency measures exist, why they have not prevented reduced pumping capacity, and what investment is required to ensure uninterrupted operations.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) demands an urgent infrastructure resilience plan, including independent backup power, redundant electricity feeds, standby pumps, improved reservoir storage, and alternative supply routes.
Johannesburg Water must equally account for its ability to manage bulk supply interruptions and protect residents from prolonged outages.
Every disruption has devastating consequences. Businesses lose revenue, schools and healthcare facilities suffer, and residents are left without a basic service they pay for.
The DA will pursue this matter through the Gauteng Provincial Legislature and our oversight of Gauteng COGTA, demanding answers from the responsible authorities, a detailed assessment of infrastructure vulnerabilities and a funded, time-bound plan to address them.
We will not accept another round of excuses, emergency meetings, and temporary repairs while the same failures continue to threaten our water security.
The DA has repeatedly warned that Gauteng’s water infrastructure is becoming the province’s next load-shedding crisis.
That crisis is already here.
Gauteng cannot continue managing critical infrastructure through emergency repairs and crossed fingers.
Residents deserve a water system designed to withstand failures, not one that fails them every time the power goes off.