The city of Johannesburg in South Africa is facing a major water crisis. Thousands of people like Tsholofelo Moloi have been waiting in long lines for two weeks just to get water. This is the worst water shortage the city has ever seen. Both rich and poor people are struggling to get enough water.
The problem comes from two main issues. Hot weather has made water levels drop in the reservoirs. But the bigger problem is that the city’s old water pipes and systems haven’t been fixed for many years. People are getting angry about this situation. This is bad news for the African National Congress party which has run the country since the 1990s.
They might lose support in the next election. South Africa already deals with regular power cuts. Now people are using a new word: “watershedding.” This means planned water outages just like they have power outages which they call “loadshedding.”
Life is hard for Moloi who lives in Soweto near Johannesburg. She & her neighbors must wait in long lines every day for water trucks to arrive. Recently she had to beg a restaurant for water because the trucks were late.
Buying water is not an option for most people. A small bottle costs 25 rand which is too expensive in a country where many people don’t have jobs.
Moloi says it’s very difficult to handle daily tasks. She needs water to cook & to wash her kids’ school clothes. The situation is causing her a lot of stress.
Many others in this city of 6 million people face the same problem as they wait for water trucks each day.
People in Johannesburg & nearby towns often deal with water problems. But now it’s different because the whole area is affected at the same time.
The water officials in Gauteng province recently warned both Johannesburg and Pretoria about a serious issue. They said if people don’t start using less water the whole system might break down. This would happen when the water tanks drop too low & they’d need to close everything to fill them up again. The situation is more serious than usual because it affects both major cities at once.
People might not have tap water for several weeks. This is a big problem since hot weather makes everyone use more water. Winter won’t arrive for a while in this part of the world.
Even though there’s no official drought yet officials are asking everyone to save water whenever possible. As World Water Day comes up on Friday it reminds us that we all need to be careful with our water use.
People are angry about the water problems in Johannesburg. They say this mess started many years ago. The officials did not take care of the water pipes and systems that were built after apartheid ended. Back then, Black people finally got access to basic water services.
The ANC party used to be popular because of these improvements. Now people want answers about what went wrong. In Johannesburg which different political parties run together, everyone is mad at the government for letting things get so bad.
A government report from last year shows big problems. It found that 40% of Johannesburg’s water is lost because of leaky & broken pipes.
These days, even rich people in Johannesburg who have swimming pools must wait for water trucks to bring them water. This is new for them & many are surprised by this situation.
People who live in Blairgowrie took to the streets to protest because they had no water for almost two weeks.
Lefa Molise who works as a councilor in Soweto told AP News that he doesn’t think the water problem will be fixed anytime soon.
– He tells people to save water whenever they can because water cuts happen often.
– The authorities don’t warn people before they shut off the water.
– He also said the water trucks that come to help aren’t bringing enough water for everyone.
– Thabisile Mchunu who is an older resident hasn’t had water since last week.
– She now has to carry water in big buckets that hold 20 liters.
“We don’t know when we’ll get water again in our homes” she said.
This week Rand Water asked people in Gauteng to use less water. The company gives water to many towns in the area. Their water tanks are only 30% full & when people use too much water from one tank it affects all the others.
The power problems in South Africa have made things worse. A lightning strike hit a power station that runs one of the main water pumps in Johannesburg.
The city’s mayor Kabelo Gwamanda shared this news on Tuesday.
Nqobile Ntshangase helped write this story from Johannesburg.
Note: The AP gets money from the Gates Foundation to write about health and growth in Africa. AP makes its own choices about what to write. You can learn more about AP’s rules & supporters on AP.org.
