Johannesburg – It is too soon for Joburg residents to experience water supply disruptions as a result of the planned maintenance and the miscommunication caused unnecessary panic.
That is according to the Water Institute of Southern Africa’s Professor Mike Muller.
Rand Water started a 54-hour “shutdown” in parts of Gauteng on Monday for planned maintenance to infrastructure.
The maintenance operation continues with 150 officials – including engineers, specialists and safety officers – working around the clock.
“The communication we could have done better,” Muller said.
“When you switch off the pump in Vereeniging, nothing happened in Johannesburg because we have loads of reservoir.
“The lesson so far, the planning sounds sensible, but communication caused confusion.”
Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu is urging citizens to use water sparingly because there is not enough to go around.
Mchunu insists this is not a crisis.
