By Akani Nkuna
Joburg mayor Dada Morero on Monday outlined a comprehensive strategy to address the city’s persistent water challenges through the diversification of water sources, with a strong focus on borehole drilling in areas hardest hit by shortages.
“We are also planning long-term investments to build resilience, constructing new water towers and reservoirs in key growth areas, advancing effluent reuse and groundwater projects to diversify Johannesburg’s water supply. Borehole drilling is already underway in partnership with Wits Enterprise,” said Morero.
He was speaking at a media briefing in Newtown, Johannesburg, alongside Johannesburg Water CEO, where they discussed the city’s ongoing water crisis and progress on the turnaround strategy.
Johannesburg has battled severe water supply disruptions throughout 2025, largely due to structural deficiencies and seasonal pressures. Several communities, including Westbury, recently protested after enduring days-long outages.
Morero stressed that the city is prioritising the refurbishment and replacement of ageing infrastructure to ensure that key reservoirs and wastewater treatment plants operate effectively.
“Our wastewater treatment plants — Olifantsvlei and Bushkoppies — have completed major upgrades, while Goudkoppies is now 95% complete. These projects enhance our ability to store, treat, and distribute water more efficiently across Johannesburg,” he said.
He added that daily water demand had dropped from 1,792 megalitres to 1,702 megalitres, attributing the decline to leak detection efforts, pressure management, and community awareness campaigns under the city’s Water Demand Management programme.
Morero also said the city is intensifying efforts to clamp down on illegal water connections through joint operations with law enforcement to improve compliance and boost revenue collection.
“We’ve installed 225 noise loggers to automatically detect leaks and deployed 51 smart pressure controllers to regulate night-time flow and reduce wastage,” he noted.
Morero further commended the “ring-fencing of Johannesburg Water as a trading entity,” saying that, with support from the Presidency and National Treasury, the move has improved accountability and efficiency in managing water resources and finances.
In July, the City transferred billing services to Johannesburg Water.
Morero said recent reports for July and August show measurable improvements in accuracy, with the meter reading ratio rising to 92%, up from 91.6% in August.
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