Gauteng residents are urged to stock up on water ahead of planned maintenance by Rand Water at the Vereeniging plant from Tuesday to Thursday next week.
While this maintenance is needed, it must be done proactively, not only when a problem occurs.
Neighbouring Johannesburg municipalities may also be affected.
The following areas will be affected by the maintenance:
• Roodepoort
• Randburg
• Parts of Johannesburg Central
• Ennerdale
• Southdale
• Soweto
Furthermore, residents also need to be aware that while water may be restored on time, it will take time for the reservoirs to fill up and supply the high-lying areas with water.
Residents need to ensure that they have enough water for the duration of the outage so that they can flush toilets, wash their hands, and bath.
The recovery of reservoirs to full capacity can take up to 14 days. Residents must be mindful of usage as the higher-lying areas will be negatively affected.
In addition, dips in electricity can also cause problems with the supply of water, leaving residents without water for longer than initially anticipated.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) reiterates its call on Rand Water and Joburg Water to do proactive maintenance and not wait for problems to occur.
If Rand Water does not get its act together, it will become another Eskom.
We will continue to put pressure on Premier Panyaza Lesufi and the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Mzi Khumalo, to establish an inter-governmental task force to deal with the current water and electricity crises.