Midrand residents take to the streets after week-long water outage

By Charmaine Ndlela

Angry residents of Midrand, north of Johannesburg, took to the streets on Tuesday to protest the ongoing water crisis that has left some neighbourhoods without supply for nearly a week, forcing households to buy water daily for basic needs.

Residents said taps ran dry last Wednesday, with the hardest-hit areas including Noordwyk, Ivory Park, Ebony Park, Rabie Ridge, Kaalfontein, President Park, Glen Austin and surrounding Midrand suburbs.

ALSO READ: Midrand water supply improves slightly after week-long outages

City authorities said the disruptions stem from a sequence of incidents in Rand Water’s bulk supply system over the past week that directly affected Johannesburg Water’s Midrand network.

According to a City of Johannesburg media briefing on Tuesday, Rand Water notified Johannesburg Water on 26 January that emergency repair work was required at the Palmiet Pump Station, requiring isolation and repairs to critical pump infrastructure.

While the work was initially