DA demands Ekurhuleni water outages are tackled by finalizing delayed reservoir project
by Cllr. Jean Ingram: City of Ekurhuleni Ward 39 Councillor
Date: 17 February 2025
Release: Immediate
The DA demands that immediate restart of Ekurhuleni’s Russell Road Reservoir infrastructure project, which is currently hopelessly delayed and sitting idle with no work currently being done. If we do not see immediate action, the DA will escalate this concern to the upcoming Parliamentary hearing that we are setting up to grill Gauteng’s municipal leaders and water entities.
It is time for Ekurhuleni, just like the City of Johannesburg, to be put on the spot by the national legislature for its deprivation of human rights and violation of the law.
The Russel Road project is meant to include Rand Water’s Chamber project, as well as the Pipeline and Reservoir projects managed by Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, but currently no progress or work on site can be seen.
Just last week the DA went to site expecting to see progress, but we can confirm that no work is underway at any of the three projects, while large parts of the municipality face an ongoing water supply failure.
While Ekurhuleni fails to make progress on water supply projects, businesses in the area condemned to operate without water are facing the dire reality that they may have to close their doors, in places like Wadeville which should be a key industrial hub in Germiston.
Over 20,000 workers employed by major companies such as Ardagh Glass (formerly Consol), Coca-Cola, Distell, and South African Breweries face the threat of job losses. The delay of this project is a direct threat to businesses, employees, and industry who depend on this infrastructure.
Every passing day increases the risk of factory closures, job losses, and continued hardship for residents who are deprived of basic water access, as Ekurhuleni bungles this essential water upgrade project.
Media enquiries:
Cllr. Jean Ingram
City of Ekurhuleni Ward 39 Councillor
065 808 8151
