Explosion cuts off water supply to parts of Johannesburg

An explosion on power lines that feed a key water-pumping hub risks cutting supply to parts of South Africa’s commercial hub of Johannesburg and key platinum- and gold-mining towns to the city’s west, the continent’s biggest bulk-water supplier said.

The blast at 2 a.m. Thursday knocked out the electricity supply to the Eikenhof booster station, interrupting its operation, Rand Water said in a statement. 

The facility pumps treated water to reservoirs that serve the western and northern parts of Johannesburg, as well as the platinum-mining hub of Rustenburg and the town of Driefontein.

This town has mines owned by Sibanye Stillwater, Valterra Platinum, and Impala Platinum, all of which operate in Rustenburg. 

Residents of Johannesburg suburbs, including Maraisburg, Parktown, Newlands, Weltevreden Park, Roodepoort, Radiokop and parts of Soweto, reported no supply on Thursday morning.

The affected network serves several million people, although Rand Water didn’t estimate how many customers would actually experience interruptions. 

“Areas supplied by these reservoirs are likely to experience low water pressure or intermittent supply until pumping operations resume,” the utility said. “Various industries, mines and direct customers may also be affected.” 

City Power expects to restore Eikenhof’s electricity supply today, Rand Water said. 

The cuts are happening a day before Rand Water is due to undertake a maintenance shutdown that will affect most parts of Johannesburg and its surrounding cities to upgrade Eikenhof and Zuikerbosch, Africa’s biggest water-treatment plant. 

The outages are the latest sign of a water-supply crisis that’s affecting some of the country’s biggest cities because of inadequate maintenance, limited investment in infrastructure and poor management. 

Last year, parts of Johannesburg were left without water for weeks after reservoirs struggled to recover from scheduled maintenance and as criminals vandalised a key pipeline.

In a February speech acknowledging that scores of municipalities are dysfunctional and unable to provide basic services, President Cyril Ramaphosa committed R156 billion for water infrastructure and sanitation over the next three years.

He has also set up a national water-crisis committee that he will chair to tackle the problem.