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FILE | Hurst Hill reservoir in Johannesburg.
Community action network WaterCAN says the effective solution to the current water crisis in some parts of the City of Johannesburg is to address the funding shortfall at Johannesburg Water.
The remarks follow recent violent protests by residents of Westbury and Coronationville over water shortages.
Residents blocked roads with burning tyres and debris on Wednesday, demanding reliable water after nearly a week without taps running.
WaterCAN Executive Manager Dr. Ferrial Adam says the city’s inability to adequately fund Johannesburg Water hampers the entity from carrying out its duties.
Adam says, “So the City of Joburg holds the purse strings and allocates a budget to their entities like Joburg Water, roads, City Power, et cetera. This has been going on for a very long time, where they can take money back into their account to kind of show that they cash flush. What is happening at the moment is they’re taking money away from Joburg Water but they’re not replacing it in the 24 hours that they usually do. So Joburg Water cannot pay their contractors and that is delaying projects.”
PODCAST| Interview with Adams on SAFM’s First Take Programme:
Standoff
Protests continued on Thursday in Westbury and Coronationville in Johannesburg, Gauteng, as a standoff between police and protesters demanding the restoration of the water supply persisted.
Community leaders are trying to quell the fighting between police and protesters.
The residents are blaming the police for perpetrating violence by shooting at and assaulting people.
