Dry Taps, Empty Promises: Joburg Communities Demand Accountability in Water Crisis

Johannesburg’s water crisis has reached breaking point

Communities in Claremont, Westbury, and Coronationville remain without water despite the Mayor’s seven-day promise. With R4 billion unlawfully diverted from Johannesburg Water, residents are left to suffer while leaders roll out the red carpet for G20 dignitaries. Enough is enough—Johannesburg needs accountability, leadership, and urgent action.

Johannesburg’s Water Crisis: Accountability Cannot Wait

The Mayor’s seven-day promise to restore water to Claremont, Westbury, and Coronationville has expired—yet taps are still dry. Residents, fed up with broken promises, demanded answers at a heated meeting on 18 September, chanting “We Want Water” as their daily struggles came to light: elderly citizens hauling buckets at midnight, children unable to attend school in clean clothes.

Worse still, the Mayor admitted that R4 billion was diverted from Johannesburg Water’s budget—money meant for vital infrastructure. This is not only reckless but potentially criminal. The so-called “emergency allocation” for high-rise pipes offers too little, too late.

As the City prepares to host G20 dignitaries, its own citizens suffer without basic services. The silence from the Presidency is equally unacceptable.

The Joburg Crisis Alliance demands:

• The resignation of the Mayor and MMC for Water.

• A forensic probe into the diverted billions.

• Direct national intervention to protect residents.

Water is a basic right. Johannesburg does not need excuses—it needs action, and it needs it now.

Join the movement for a better Joburg.