The City of Johannesburg is taking decisive action to stabilise the water supply network and reduce consumption through a comprehensive, multifaceted Water Demand Management programme. This approach involves coordinated efforts between the City, Johannesburg Water, Rand Water, and key stakeholders to address both immediate and long-term water security challenges. The programme includes detailed assessments of water usage patterns, targeted interventions in high-risk areas, and the deployment of cutting-edge technologies to monitor and optimise the entire supply system.

Johannesburg remains one of the largest consumers of bulk water supplied by Rand Water. While significant progress has been made in reducing daily consumption, with multiple projects resulting in a measurable decline in water demand, the City must still reach a critical target of 1 550 Ml/d to comply with licence apportionment requirements. To achieve this, our administration is implementing a suite of urgent, practical interventions, including real-time monitoring of consumption at the district and household levels, partnerships with businesses to drive water-saving initiatives, and enhanced public awareness campaigns.

The City of Johannesburg notes the growing “Day Zero” narrative circulating in sections of the media and public discourse. We want to state clearly and unequivocally: Johannesburg is not at Day Zero. Day Zero refers to a complete system failure where water can no longer be supplied. Johannesburg continues to receive and distribute water across the city. However, the system remains under significant pressure due to high demand, infrastructure constraints, and ongoing supply challenges.

To intensify coordination and fast-track interventions, an Intergovernmental Water War Room has been established, bringing together the City of Johannesburg, Rand Water, Gauteng Provincial Government and national stakeholders. This structure is actively monitoring the system in real time, coordinating technical responses, accelerating repairs, and implementing demand-management measures to stabilise supply and protect critical infrastructure.

The City of Johannesburg is aware of a message currently circulating on social media and messaging platforms falsely claiming to be an official statement from the Municipal Manager, Dr Floyd Brink. The City wishes to state clearly and unequivocally: the circulating statement is FAKE. It was not issued, authorised, or approved by the City of Johannesburg or the Office of the Municipal Manager.

The Municipal Manager has not issued any apology, including the alleged “profuse and unreserved apology” for failure to comply with Section 126B of the National Credit Act, nor has he made any of the admissions, commitments, or undertakings contained in the fraudulent message.

Following a fire incident at the Bree Substation in the early hours of this morning, which resulted in an outage affecting customers in the Inner City, our teams are currently on site, working with emergency services to manage the situation and ensure the area is safe.

Structural engineers and inspectors from the Department of Labour have arrived on site to assess the structural condition of the facility and surrounding buildings. The MMC for Environmental Infrastructure and Services (EISD), Cllr Jack Sekwaila, is also on site overseeing the response.

The City of Johannesburg reassures the public and the art community that all necessary measures are being taken to ensure the proper care and security of the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) collection during its relocation and refurbishment process. Despite concerns raised by certain stakeholders, the City emphasises that extensive consultations have been conducted and decisions are made in alignment with its authority and responsibilities. We note with dismay the false statements on the state of readiness of the relocation sites.

City Power wishes to inform customers of a fire incident that occurred at the Bree Substation in the Inner City Service Delivery Centre in the early hours of this morning, resulting in a power outage affecting several parts of the Inner City.

At around 02h45, the 88kV Fordsburg/Bree feeder tripped and our operators were immediately dispatched to investigate. This occurred shortly after security personnel at the Bree Substation noticed smoke emanating from the facility and alerted the City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS).

The City of Johannesburg successfully hosted a Learner Awareness Programme at Apex Primary School in Lenasia Extension 10, aimed at empowering learners through messages of education, self-belief, safety and social responsibility.

The programme commenced with Cllr Godfrey Lebea, who welcomed learners, educators, City officials, and delegates. He emphasised the importance of collaboration between the City, the Office of the Regional Director and the MMC in advancing learner development and community upliftment initiatives.

City steps up verge and open-space high-season maintenance.

The City of Johannesburg, through Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ), has accelerated an intensive verge, park, cemetery and open-space maintenance programme across all regions, reinforcing its commitment to safer, cleaner and more liveable neighbourhoods.

The Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Cllr Dada Morero, today visited the site of the building explosion in New Doornfontein as part of the City’s High Impact Accelerated Service Delivery operation in the Inner City.

The visit followed ongoing investigations into the incident, which affected the power supply in parts of New Doornfontein supplied from the Siemert Substation. The Executive Mayor was accompanied by senior City leadership, including City Power Chief Operating Officer, Charles Tlouane, who provided details on City Power’s assessment of the electricity infrastructure at the affected building.