Water protests in the spotlight

Frustrated Johannesburg residents and civil society organisations have joined forces to stage one of the largest protests to raise the alarm about the looming water crisis in the city.

A coalition of city society bodies have set out key demands to the City Mayor, Dada Morero to address the ongoing water-related issues of outages, unmaintained or poorly repaired water systems and the impact these disruptions have on basic human rights.

The peaceful protest takes place on Saturday 1 November 2025 at the Johannesburg Council Chambers in Braamfontein from 10am.

Suburbs across South Africa have suffered with frequent and extended water outages in the past few years. It’s added to the dysfunction of cities and towns that needs water – a basic human right - to run at minimum efficiency.

This brokenness in the City of Johannesburg has been made worse by absent or non-responsive local councillors and council officials who are slow to answer to complaints or to tackle problems, if these are addressed at all. Maintenance schedules have not been adhered to, work done, when is done is sub-standard and patchy, which means breakdowns in the system occur repeatedly.

Frustrated Joburg residents have been protesting against the lack of services for years and are now uniting in a protest by a civil society coalition .

They will come together on 1 November to bring the protest to the Johannesburg Council Chambers in Braamfontein.

“We are fed up. We have waited too long while our taps run dry. This is not just about water – it’s about respect, accountability, and the right to live with dignity. The people of Johannesburg have had enough of excuses and failed promises,” the coalition said in its statement.

Among their demands are the ring-fencing of water funds, transparency on the missing R4 billion from Joburg Water, and reforms to the water board to include civil society, business, and government oversight.