Residents, councillors, journalists and MPs have asked these questions in public about Johannesburg's water. Each is in the asker's own words, checked word for word against its source, and answered from what Johannesburg Water (JW) reported on its status boards.
A day counts as short of water when JW's worst report for it that day was “poor pressure to no water” or “critically low”. Every figure here comes from the same record as the rest of the site: data release 2026-09-29-318d9dca, JW's boards from 3 March 2025 to 29 September 2026. A reservoir's status is not a reading of anyone's tap.
Answered from JW's boards
“What is also of concern is that the South Hills water tower seems to be one of the worst affected water towers in terms of lengthy water outages in the South of Johannesburg and that also needs investigating.”
South Hills Tower ranks 4th of the 29 towers JW reported in 2026 for days short of water: 15 of 185 reported days. The claim was made in October 2024, before our record starts in March 2025, and it was about the south of the city; this ranking takes in every tower in Johannesburg.
The towers above it are President Park Tower (87 days), Brixton 1 Tower (26 days), Rabie Ridge Tower (17 days). In March to July 2025 it ranked 15th of 28, short of water on 1 of 91 reported days.
“Friday was the first time in many years that residents were given any statistics on the Northcliff reservoir. JW has never been the best at communication, and that needs to change. An informed public is a calmer public”
In July 2026 JW reported Northcliff Reservoir short of water on 1 of 12 reported days and Northcliff Tower on 2 of 12. In August and September 2026 the reservoir was short of water on 0 days and the tower on 0. JW's boards first name Northcliff Reservoir on 19 July 2026, so there is no earlier record for it; the tower's runs from 3 March 2025.
“They told us water comes into the reservoir and goes out when consumed. But that is how it works, so what is the difference now?”
In 2026 JW reported South Hills Tower short of water on 15 of the 185 days it reported the tower, and never for more than 3 days in a row. In March to July 2025 it was short of water on 1 of 91 reported days. Our record starts in March 2025, after the October 2024 outage, and JW's boards give the tower's state, not how much water came in or went out.
“Could you explain, again for us ordinary people, how the system is restored? Why may it take five to 14 days for recovery even after Rand Water achieves its targets?”
After Rand Water's maintenance of 29 May to 2 June 2026, 29 of the 29 supplies JW had reported out were reported supplying fairly or better again, a median of 0 days after the work ended; the slowest took 31 days. The boards measure how long recovery took, not why it takes that long.
After the July 2026 phase, 38 of 38 came back, with a median of 3 days and at most 8. Another 4 supplies in June and 4 in July were on bypass before the work began, so they cannot count as recovered.
“Then came months of rain — and somehow we are still being water-shedded, often late at night or in the early hours of the morning with no warning. How is this even possible?”
JW announced a scheduled overnight closure for Northcliff Tower in 7 of the 179 statuses it printed for the tower from 3 March 2025, and for Northcliff Reservoir in 1 of 93 from 19 July 2026. JW prints its boards by day and in the evening, so a cut in the small hours shows only if a board announced it, and the boards never say why water goes at night.
“Joburg Water needs to not only solve this problem but also engage with residents because we never know when the water will come back on.”
The last 10 outages JW reported on Hursthill 2, one of the supplies JW lists for Westdene, lasted a median of 0.7 days and at most 2.7 days. Still out at JW's last report (none): Hursthill 2, at least none days so far. 1 of the 10 had no reported end, so these are lower bounds, and a record of past outages is not a forecast of when water returns.
JW lists these supplies for Westdene: Brixton 1 Tower and Hursthill 1 Reservoir and Hursthill 2 Reservoir. In 2026 it reported Hursthill 2 on bypass on 189 of the 189 days it reported the reservoir.
“We're not getting any answers. At first it was maintenance, then something else, then suddenly it's a strike. We don't know what to believe.”
The page for Hursthill 2, the supply JW lists for Melville, gives all 510 statuses JW printed for the reservoir from 3 March 2025, each dated, in JW's own words, with a link to the board it came from, next to the end dates JW's notices stated. It shows what JW said and when; it cannot settle which cause was the true one.
“At this stage we are demanding accountability and clear communication. We have residents who, by Friday, will have gone four weeks without water.”
From 1 to 13 February 2026 JW reported Hursthill 2 short of water on 4 of the 7 days it has a board for; there is no board for the other 6 days. Our record has no boards between 24 July 2025 and 1 February 2026, so the first two of the four weeks claimed are not covered.
Across 2026 JW reported Hursthill 2 short of water on 106 of 189 reported days.
“What residents need to understand is why recovery has taken so long in some areas and what is being done to prevent a repeat of this experience during the next maintenance cycle”
After the 29 May to 2 June 2026 maintenance the slowest reported recoveries were Hector Norris Pump Station (31 days), Brixton Reservoir (16 days), Randjieslaagte Reservoir (7 days), Crown Gardens Reservoir (6 days). After the 17 July 2026 phase they were Witpoortjie Reservoir (8 days), Meadowlands Reservoir (7 days), Orlando East Reservoir (7 days), Yeoville Pump Station (6 days). Why recovery took so long in those places, and what is planned for the next cycle, is not in the boards.
Across all the supplies that can be compared, the median recovery took 0 days in June and 3 in July.
“When pressed for a revised timeline for full system recovery, JW was unable to provide even an estimated timeframe.”
On Hursthill 2 the last 10 outages lasted a median of 0.7 days and the longest 2.7 days, and 1 of them had no reported end. Still out at JW's last report (none): Hursthill 2, at least none days so far. JW's boards give a record of past outages, not a timeline, and this is not a forecast.
In its notices, JW's stated end for the structural repairs to Hursthill 2 moved from 9 April 2026 to 31 July 2026 to 29 September 2026 to 15 December 2026.
“I asked for one tanker to be parked in a central place so residents could collect water, but that never happened. That's deeply concerning because these disruptions are becoming more common and we need proper contingency plans.”
Linden 1 Reservoir was short of water on 2 of 107 reported days in March to July 2025 and on 1 of 190 in 2026; Northcliff Tower on 2 of 63 and 3 of 58; Linden 1 Tower and Linden 2 Reservoir on no days in either year. Tankers are not in the boards, and a street can lose water for reasons a reservoir board does not show.
“the city is increasingly relying on water tankers as a primary, rather than temporary, solution to chronic water outages caused by infrastructure failure and system instability, notably in regions like Midrand”
In 2026 JW reported President Park Tower short of water on 87 of 189 reported days, 1st of the 29 towers in the city, and President Park Reservoir on 35. Tanker spending is not in the boards; how often JW reported Midrand's supplies out is.
Rabie Ridge Tower had 17 such days and Diepsloot Reservoir 9; the Erand and Grand Central reservoirs and towers had between 1 and 6 each. The city median for a supply was 4 days.
“Johannesburg residents are paying service fees for water that is not being delivered, yet they have received neither a full explanation for the drastic reduction in supply from Rand Water nor credible timelines for restoration.”
JW lists Hursthill 2 as Melville's supply. It reported Hursthill 2 short of water on 106 of 189 reported days in 2026, against a city median of 4 days for a supply. Explanations and timelines for restoration are not in the boards.
Of the 104 supplies JW reported in 2026, 82 were short of water on at least one day.
“Given recurring, patterned water interruptions in Johannesburg which residents increasingly experience as informal water shedding”
In 2026 JW's boards announced a scheduled closure, usually overnight, in 31% of Deep South statuses, 15% of Midrand's and 14% of Commando's, against Soweto 11%, Central 9%, Sandton 5%, Randburg 4%, Roodepoort 4% in the other systems. That tests the premise of a pattern; the question to the Minister, about when national government must step in, is not one the boards can answer.
“address the ongoing water outage at the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital in Johannesburg, which has reportedly been without running water for two weeks”
From 13 March 2026, when JW's boards for the Commando system resume, JW reported Hursthill 1 short of water on 19 of the 19 days it reported the reservoir in March 2026, and on bypass on 19. JW posted no boards from 10 February 2026 to 4 March 2026, and none for the Commando system until 13 March 2026, so the start of the two weeks is a gap, and the hospital's own plumbing and tanks are outside the boards.
The Minister's reply names Hursthill 1 as the hospital's supply.
“what (a) are the primary factors contributing to the recurring water shortages in the South Hills area in Johannesburg”
JW reported South Hills Tower short of water on 1 of 91 reported days in March to July 2025 and on 15 of 185 in 2026, with between 1 and 3 such days in each month of 2026 that has a board. Recurrence can be counted from March 2025; the factors behind it are not in the boards.
“on what date is it envisaged that the project will resume and reach practical completion”
JW's boards first name Brixton 2 Reservoir on 9 February 2026 and Brixton 2 Tower on 2 April 2026. Since then the reservoir has appeared on 6 boards over 4 days and the tower on 4 boards over 4 days. The contractor dispute and the completion date are not in the boards.
Brixton 1 Tower was short of water on 7 of 106 reported days in 2025 and 26 of 189 in 2026.
“The communities serviced by the Commando system stretching from Emmarentia, Victory Park, Westbury, Coronationville, Brixton, Melville, City Deep, and all areas in between, have endured persistent and extended water outages that have grown progressively worse over the better part of a decade.”
Days short of water on Hursthill 2 in each month of 2026 that can be compared, against the same month of 2025: 19 against 3 in March, 29 against 0 in April, 22 against 16 in June, 0 against 11 in July. Our record starts in March 2025, so the decade cannot be tested; the last year can.
On the same basis, Hursthill 1: 19 against 0 in March, 29 against 0 in April, 22 against 1 in June, 0 against 16 in July. Crosby Reservoir: 0 against 0 in March, 0 against 0 in April, 0 against 1 in June, 1 against 2 in July. Brixton 1 Tower: 0 against 0 in March, 2 against 0 in April, 7 against 5 in June, 4 against 2 in July.
“This delay means that we residents may have to endure even poorer supply while going through what is expected to be a very hot summer fueled by El Niño weather patterns.”
In February and March 2026 JW reported Hursthill 2 short of water on 23 of 26 reported days; in winter, June to August 2026, on 22 of 82. Our record has no boards between 24 July 2025 and 1 February 2026, so there is no earlier summer to compare, and the boards cannot forecast the coming one.
“One of the reasons they list is high consumption of water, but how can there be high consumption when there is no water at all?”
JW's boards cannot test this. They give each reservoir's state in JW's words and hold no figures for consumption or for water coming in, so they cannot show whether demand was high while taps were dry.
What they show is the outage side: in 2026 JW reported South Hills Tower short of water on 15 of the 185 days it reported the tower.
“We are asking JW to explain why this happened, why nothing was done in advance, and what immediate steps will be taken to restore water and prevent this from happening again”
JW's boards cannot answer this. The outage came from a burst pipe in the network, made worse, she said, by JW's own contractor, and a reservoir board does not report pipe bursts or the steps taken to prevent them.
What the boards show is the supplies JW lists for Claremont. In 2026 JW reported them short of water as follows: Crosby Reservoir on 3 of 189 reported days, Hursthill 1 Reservoir on 106 of 189 reported days.
“Why do the trucks roll past residents clutching empty containers, only to disappear …”
JW's boards cannot answer this: this site holds no tanker routes or deliveries.
What the boards show is the supplies JW lists for Protea. In 2026 JW reported them short of water as follows: Chiawelo Reservoir on 0 of 103 reported days, Zondi Reservoir on 18 of 189 reported days.
“There is no reason why information on water tankers should be a secret”
JW's boards cannot answer this: tanker contracts and spending are not in the boards or on this site.
What we publish, in dated open releases, is every status JW reported for its reservoirs and towers from 3 March 2025 to 29 September 2026, the record such information would be read against.
“what clear timeframes have been set within which reliable water supply and dignified sanitation services will be restored in the City of Johannesburg?”
JW's boards cannot answer this: it asks for the government's timeframes, which the boards do not hold.
What they give is the baseline a target would be measured against: in 2026 the median supply was short of water on 4 days, and the worst, Hursthill 1 Reservoir and Hursthill 2 Reservoir, on 106.
The questions were gathered from news reports, press statements and Parliament's written questions. A question we cannot answer stays on this page with the reason. How this record is made.