Rubber bullets fly as Joburg Water cuts off illegal connections

JOHANNESBURG – Public policing officials have been mobilised to monitor the situation after Lenasia South residents barricaded the Golden Highway.
This, after Joburg Water tried to cut off illegal water connections at the Phumlanqashi informal settlement on 12 November.
Unauthorised connections are major contributors to the city’s water losses.
Phumlanqashi has no formal water supply infrastructure.
This led residents to connect illegally.
Local resident, Phomolo Khoza, says they weren’t warned the disconnection would happen.
“We were shocked this morning to wake up with metro and Joburg Water here to cut off our water. We were not even notified about this. How are we going to live without water. We have children who are writing exams and have to go to school. How are we going to cook. It’s all a mess.” 
 
Khoza says residents will reconnect the water supply themselves because they can’t survive without water.
“We know that we are connected illegally, but nobody is coming to assist with water. We had no choice. Now that they have disconnected us, we will connect again until they come with a permanent solution.”
Illegal connections have proliferated in the informal settlement since 2017, despite the provision of water tankers by the City of Joburg.
Khoza says residents had no other option.
“We wanted water, so we made a plan we could not just live without water. We have connected since 2017 and nobody came to us with a solution on proper water. I know that this is an informal settlement, but we are humans and need water, and we are not fighting with anyone.”
Another resident, Yoliswa Langa, explains how locals collected money to buy water pipes to connect to the supply.
“We did it on our own. We bought the pipes and connected ourselves because we have been living here for so long without water it was time we got water for ourselves. Even with electricity, we had to buy ourselves solar so we could have power to at least cool.”
Joburg Water says the informal settlement was served by water tanks to meet residents’ needs. These tanks were vandalised after ongoing land invasions and increased illegal water connections strained the local supply network.
The utility says this has forced it to cut unauthorised connections in the area and restore water tankers.
Meanwhile, tensions remain high on the ground as residents sing struggle songs.
Earlier in the day, authorities were met with resistance from residents as they cut off connections, resulting in rubber bullets being fired.
By Zandile Khumalo