The Minister of Water and Sanitation, Nomvula Mokonyane, met with the Rand Water board and its senior officials last night for a full status quo report on water interruptions in Gauteng

Parts of Pretoria and Johannesburg have been without water for as long as ten days. Rand Water has reported that the main cause of the interruptions are ageing infrastructure, vandalism as well as power supply shortage to pump water upstream into reservoirs to supply the affected communities.

The meeting, also attended by the Acting Director-General and senior executives of the Department of Water and Sanitation, was scheduled to take place at 18:00 yesterday evening.

The meeting was intended to brief the minister comprehensively on progress made to resolve the ongoing problem and to chart a way forward. The outcome of the meeting is not yet clear but the department has said it will release a comprehensive report on the current situation in due course.

 

Gauteng Premier to intervene

Gauteng Premier David Makhura has said he will meet with mayors from municipalities across the province today where he will discuss the state of infrastructure, service delivery and the unfolding water crisis.

 

Water rationing

Engineering teams from the affected areas’ municipalities have reportedly been working around the clock, together with Rand Water to resolve the problem.

Meanwhile Rand Water has announced a decision to ration its supply in an attempt to restore water in affected areas

Valves will be closed in areas which have not been affected by the water crisis to accommodate those areas that have.

It is still not known when water supply will be fully restored to Gauteng.