14-hour water outage will affect these Johannesburg suburbs

Residents in Lyme Park and Willow Wild will face a 14-hour water outage on 26 February as Johannesburg Water carries out essential infrastructure work. The outage will begin at 8:00 and end at 22:00, affecting all streets in both suburbs.

Johannesburg Water confirmed that the interruption will allow technicians to complete the “tie-in of a new water pipe to the existing mainline.”

During this period, customers will have no water supply. Johannesburg Water said it will provide details about alternative water supply arrangements in due course.

Water outage: Planned maintenance to improve supply

The utility explained that the planned shutdown forms part of ongoing efforts to strengthen water infrastructure and improve long-term reliability. Although residents will experience temporary inconvenience, the project aims to ensure “improved service delivery and continuity of water supply.”

The scheduled maintenance comes as authorities intensify interventions to stabilise water systems across Gauteng. In recent weeks, residents and businesses have experienced intermittent water disruptions linked to ageing infrastructure, high demand, leaks, power interruptions and maintenance backlogs.

Water supply has since been restored in many areas, but monitoring continues.

Oversight and infrastructure investment

Paul Mashatile, in his role as Chairperson of the Water Task Team, recently conducted an oversight visit to Johannesburg Water facilities in Midrand. He said the government has moved swiftly to address system failures.

“We are out of troubled waters for now… There is still a long journey ahead and work that needs to be done, but at least the system is now pumping water to residents,” he said.

Mashatile made the remarks while visiting a reservoir construction site in Carlswald. He added that the new reservoir “is planned to supply water for the next 20 years,” noting that the project will complement existing infrastructure and come online next year.

Government has budgeted approximately R1.7 billion for Johannesburg infrastructure in the 2025/26 financial year. Mashatile also confirmed that “three developers are jointly building a 10-megalitre reservoir with Joburg Water” to boost capacity.

Coordinated response to water challenges

The Deputy President defended the role of the national task team, explaining that multiple departments collaborate with municipalities to resolve disruptions and plan for long-term stability.

“When there are challenges, the President wants to know whether they have been fixed, and that is exactly what we are doing,” Mashatile said.