Water cuts to throttle Joburg businesses

Aim is to ‘reduce water losses at night when demand is low’

Businesses in Joburg say the reduction in water supply implemented last night will hit them hard.

Restaurants in Melville, Rosebank and Braamfontein said they were worried about losing customers as Joburg Water said it would reduce supply between 9pm and 4am.

Water and sanitation minister Pemmy Majodina revealed the “water throttling” on Monday as she outlined the city’s interventions to address growing water problems in the municipality. “[There would be] throttling of water supply between 9pm and 4am, to enable reservoir levels to recover overnight. The city intends to implement this continuously from November 14 until the system has fully recovered,” she said.

“Implementing advanced pressure management systems include the installation of 45 smart pressure controllers [pressure reducing valves], in addition to the 15 that have been refurbished and retrofitted to date. This is aimed at reducing water losses at night when demand is low, which will substantially reduce water losses.”

Ntando Ndlovu, an employee at Xai Xai restaurant in Melville, said despite closing their kitchen at 10pm, they still have dishes to be washed which use a lot of water, and would still have to tell their diners not to use the toilets. 

He said they stored water in buckets and water tanks. “The main consumption of water is the kitchen. Because in our toilets, we will put a sign that there’s no water. Whenever we have water issues, most of our customers just come in for beer or soft drinks, and don’t eat because they know we don’t have water. That means we are losing money on selling food,” he said.  

Kagiso Moyo from Nova On 7th, in Melville, said: “About 9pm is when we get busiest. It will affect us big time. I think water is a very viable resource, especially in the restaurant business. We could have people leaving here sick or might not even come back because it’s not hygienic.”

She said they never thought about storing water because they were paying rates and taxes. “It’s a big inconvenience and they are seriously messing with our businesses,” said Moyo.

An employee at La Parada in Rosebank, who asked not to be named, said they’d have to buy water in order to keep the business going. “Currently, we don't have a plan. Within the premises we are in, we don’t have a tank. So, we’ll be depending on buying water, which will affect our cost of sales immensely because now we will be taking money out of the shop to buy water and try to accommodate both our staff and customers.”  

Residents and students were equally worried, with some saying they didn't know about the water reductions. Siyabulela Ndude, a 22-year-old student from Braamfontein, said: “I wasn’t aware of the water cut. That’s the first time I’ve heard about it. It’s an inconvenience for me a little bit. I live on water.

“I drink water a lot. Where I stay, they do have water tanks but I’m not sure how long they’ll sustain us, considering this might be a frequent thing. I don’t have a plan, but I do have one container in my room that I use to store water.”

Palese Kibi of Dlamini, Soweto, said she was worried because one of her children takes formula milk. “I usually make that about 9.30pm because we go to sleep at 10pm. If I do them [bottles] earlier, it means they get finish before the water comes back.”

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