Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi. (Oupa Nkosi)
Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi issued a late-night apology after remarks about bathing at a hotel during water outages sparked public backlash, as large parts of Johannesburg remain without water for days and in some cases, weeks.
Speaking at a media briefing on Gauteng’s deepening water crisis on Wednesday, Lesufi said his comments may have been “misinterpreted” or caused offence.
“People think that if there is no water, us, our families, we’ve got special water — we don’t,” he told the briefing. “In some instances, I had to go to a certain hotel so that I could bathe and go to my commitments.
“We also go through the same inconveniences as any other person. There’s no special water or a special pipe designed to service other people and not service others. Our families, our relatives, ourselves, our constituencies — they suffer the same pain. We don’t have water when communities don’t have water.
“But what we need to do is fix the problem. We are coming to you to say that the problem is almost fixed.”
In a statement issued later, Lesufi expressed his “sincerest apology”, saying he had intended no harm.
“The premier acknowledges that his statement, in which he made reference to a hotel, may have been interpreted in a manner that suggested the impact of water challenges differs based on one’s position in society. This was never his intention,” the statement said.
Lesufi’s remarks come as large parts of Johannesburg face an escalating and deepening water crisis that has left Melville, Meldene, Parktown North, Emmarentia, Mayfair West, Kensington and Bedfordview without water for days — and in some cases weeks.
“Premier Lesufi wishes to make it unequivocally clear that water shortages and supply interruptions are an inconvenience and hardship to all residents of Gauteng, regardless of social, economic or professional standing. Access to water is a basic human right, and any disruption affects families, communities, businesses and institutions across the province,” the statement added.
The premier said the water challenges being experienced inconvenience everyone equally. “No one is immune to the frustration and disruption caused by water shortages, and I regret any impression that suggested otherwise.”
At the same briefing, deputy minister of water and sanitation David Mahlobo said a technical team had recommended the implementation of “soft water restrictions” in Gauteng to prevent Rand Water’s system from crashing.
“We’ve done an assessment, and in terms of the immediate issue of restoring supply in areas without water — and preventing the system from crashing — we have agreed with the technical team’s recommendation that soft water restrictions be implemented,” Mahlobo said.
Water supplied to households and businesses in areas with a healthy supply of water may flow at lower pressure or volume.
He said the restrictions would apply only in areas where water is still being supplied and would not be limited to Johannesburg. “They will affect Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, and certain parts of Mpumalanga and North West, because the restriction applies to the Rand Water system, which is the main system, so that it does not collapse.”
Mahlobo said authorities would also implement load shifting, moving water from reservoirs in healthier parts of the system to those with critically low levels, in an effort to stabilise supply.
In addition, he said teams dealing with water losses would be expanded. “There are too many pipes gushing water that are not replaced in time, particularly when the system is vulnerable,” he said. Rand Water, Johannesburg Water and municipal teams have been instructed to increase shifts, including night shifts, to ensure faster response times.
“If an incident is reported, a team must be dispatched immediately, isolate the system and communicate with communities about how long repairs will take,” Mahlobo said.
Illegal connections would also be addressed, although Mahlobo said the government would need to work with councillors and law-enforcement agencies to find temporary ways of supplying water to people who are disconnected.
On Thursday, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) called for the ongoing water crisis to be declared a national disaster, saying communities across the country were battling to access water.
“Water is a fundamental human right entrenched in section 27 of the Constitution,” the commission said. “It is the lifeblood of human existence and plays a critical role in the achievement of several rights, including healthcare, children’s rights and education.”
In various reports, the SAHRC has identified several drivers of the country’s water challenges, including insufficient funding for infrastructure maintenance, poor planning for population growth, water losses above acceptable norms, skills shortages within water units, vandalism of infrastructure and the emergence of water mafias.
These challenges, the commission said, are most pronounced at municipal level — the sphere responsible for delivering water to households and communities.
The SAHRC said water management and distribution were in a downward spiral, with widespread disruptions severely affecting communities and compromising essential services such as schools and healthcare facilities.
Data from the South African Water Justice Tracker — a partnership between the SAHRC and the University of the Witwatersrand — shows the crisis is not localised, but widespread across the country.
The tracker identifies ageing infrastructure, inadequate funding models, skills deficits and poor intergovernmental coordination as key structural drivers of failing water services authorities.
Given the severity of the crisis, the SAHRC said it would recommend that the government declare the water crisis a national disaster under the Disaster Management Act. The commission would write to the head of the National Disaster Management Centre to formally convey the recommendation.
The commission said the scale of the crisis requires a broad, integrated and coordinated response and a national disaster declaration would allow emergency funds to be mobilised and government collaboration to improve.
However, it warned that any declaration must not become “a breeding ground for corruption, malfeasance and embezzlement of funds”, calling for strict oversight to ensure fiscal prudence.
It also urged government to implement preventative maintenance, rehabilitate critical infrastructure, fast-track bulk water projects and promote community behaviour change around water conservation.