Delivering the Gauteng State of the Province Address at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg on Monday, Premier Panyaza Lesufi outlined the scale of government intervention following the January water crisis, crediting the national ministerial team for stabilising supply and preventing a prolonged humanitarian emergency.
The crisis erupted on 27 January 2026 when an explosion at a Rand Water facility triggered a chain of failures including fire damage to transmission systems and a major pipeline burst disrupting water supply across large parts of Gauteng.
“Although repairs to damaged infrastructure were completed within 72 hours, reservoir levels fell dramatically, leaving communities without reliable water for days,” he said.
Lesufi told delegates that President Cyril Ramaphosa swiftly deployed a ministerial task team to the province, while Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina issued an extraordinary proclamation allowing emergency extraction from the Vaal River Integrated Water System to stabilise supply.
According to Lesufi, the ministerial intervention enabled rapid coordination between national, provincial and municipal authorities, accelerating repairs, restoring reservoirs and improving emergency water distribution.
Midrand among the first areas to run dry now has full supply restored.
“In Soweto, most areas have recovered, although Meadowlands Zones 3 and 4 and communities supplied by the Doornkop reservoir still experience interruptions.
“Water supply has stabilised in Kagiso and surrounding West Rand communities, while most of Ekurhuleni has recovered, except Bedfordview, Tsakane and parts of Kwa-Thema.
“Even in restored areas, recovery measures continue. Night-time throttling — used to rebuild reservoir levels — affects pressure in Kensington, Bezuidenhout Valley, Bruma and Berea.”
Persistent instability remains in parts of Westdene, Coronationville, Sophiatown, Melville and Emmarentia, as well as sections of Doornkop and areas supplied via the Commando System and Brixton Towers.
Lesufi stressed that the crisis exposed infrastructure weaknesses rather than water scarcity.
“The challenge is not water availability, but infrastructure failures, leaks and peak demand pressures,” he said.
To address systemic failures, a R760 million infrastructure upgrade is underway in the City of Johannesburg. Projects include a new Brixton reservoir and tower, an emergency booster pumping station and a 5km pipeline scheduled for completion by year-end.
The Premier said long-term planning also includes expanding storage capacity and preparing Gauteng to receive additional supply from the Lesotho Highlands Water Project to strengthen future water security.
He emphasised that collaboration across all three spheres of government remains critical to preventing future disruptions.
While acknowledging progress, Lesufi apologised to residents affected by prolonged outages and said continuous monitoring would be required to ensure stability.
“Residents deserve reliable water. We are committed to permanent solutions and ensuring that this crisis is never repeated,” he said.
