City of Tshwane implementing Stage 2 water restrictions

Over the weekend, Rand Water notified the City of Tshwane about the implementation of increased water flow control due to high water usage during the summer heat, as well as pumping challenges due to load-shedding. This is a very serious situation for our city, as all of Gauteng is a water-scarce area with limited access to this precious resource.

While Rand Water has not officially announced Stage 2 water restrictions yet, the level of flow control and reduction by Rand Water to the City of Tshwane is higher than in October 2022 when Stage 2 saw a 30% reduction. Currently, we have over 30% reduction in supply from Rand Water requiring urgent action in order to protect water security in our city.

This past weekend, I asked residents to conserve water, but now I must appeal to all residents and businesses in Tshwane to please increase your efforts and start making real changes to your water usage. We need to work together to limit our water usage now so that we do not get into a worse situation. Rand Water’s reservoir levels are concerningly low, and unless we make a significant effort to change that, we may need to consider even higher levels of water restrictions to prevent widespread outages.

Currently, the City of Tshwane is working closely with Rand Water to manage water outages caused by high water consumption, load-shedding and water restrictions. However, this exceptionally high level of restriction means that we all need to work together to prevent areas from running dry.

I also want to acknowledge that the leadership and I are also aware of the state of our water infrastructure with water bursts and vandalism of our water system. The Executive Mayor has made it clear that the repair and maintenance of our water and electricity infrastructure is a priority.

However, we are also still dealing with the reality of the City’s financial position which is still recovering from the R4 billion deficit that occurred during the COVID-19 lockdown and the illegal administration period. We will continue to focus on our water network, but this will not happen overnight. We need to do both: Repair our water infrastructure and save water during Gauteng’s water situation.

Residents can use the following numbers to report water-related incidents:

I also want to suggest the following water-saving tips for residents:

Toilet flushing and sanitation

• Only flush the toilet when necessary. Let the “yellow mellow”.
• Flush with greywater only (water previously used for laundry or showers).

Body washing and personal hygiene

• Take short, stop-start showers (not baths). Wet your body. Turn off the tap. Lather with soap. Rinse quickly.
• Do not let taps run for too long or at full flow. Use a cup for shaving, brushing teeth, etc.
• Place a large container in your shower to capture water for use in toilets.

Laundry and dishes

• Only wash what is absolutely necessary.
• Wait for a full load before running washing machines and dishwashers.
• Reuse water to flush toilets.

Swimming pools, gardens and outdoor areas

• Use a broom to clean hard outdoor surfaces (not water from a hosepipe).
• Do not use municipal drinking water for pools, ponds or water features (fit a pool cover and/or harvest rainwater instead).

Every drop of water counts, so please make sure to close taps properly.

I realise that this may sound extreme, but the sooner we change our behaviour the better prepared we will be to get through this water shortage. Let us rather save water now to prevent a worse situation a week from now.

I would like to encourage you to be the change and encourage others to join in. Let us all work together to lead in saving water as residents and businesses in Tshwane.