A joint working committee, led by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), will be established to identify solutions to ensure that Rand Water obtains a reliable electricity supply.

This followed an urgently convened stakeholder meeting this week after the pumping operations of Rand Water’s Eikenhof Booster Station was impacted by a power outage on Tuesday.

City Power reported a major power outage on Monday, triggered by an incident at the Fordsburg substation, affecting the Orlando switching station and resulting in widespread power loss.

Water and Sanitation Deputy Ministers David Mahlobo and Jack Bloom, at the request of Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina, met with Rand Water, the Gauteng provincial government, the City of Johannesburg and its entities including City Power and Johannesburg Water, as well as representatives of State-owned power utility Eskom, to discuss reliable electricity supply for Rand Water’s water supply systems in an effort to reduce water supply disruptions emanating from intermittent power trips.

The meeting, which was also attended by Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and City of Johannesburg Executive Mayor Dada Morero, unpacked detailed reports from Rand Water and City Power on the ongoing impact of the recent City Power electricity interruptions on Rand Water’s water supply systems.

Rand Water relies on City Power for its electricity supply, and the interruptions affected water supply systems in Emfuleni, City of Johannesburg and West Rand municipalities, as well as Madibeng and Rustenburg areas in the North West.

The collective noted with concern the frequent challenges City Power has reliably supplying electricity to Rand Water’s Eikenhof system which has negatively impacted on the system’s ability to reliably supply water to municipalities.

The joint working committee, which will include representatives from the Gauteng Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Rand Water, Joburg Water and the City Power as well as Eskom and all other relevant stakeholders, will develop a response plan to address both the current challenges as well as options for Rand Water to secure a reliable source of electricity in future.

The response plan will be presented to the intergovernmental structure chaired by the provincial government in due course.

The meeting further encouraged DWS, Rand Water, the provincial government and the city to continue mobilising all structures of society to work with government in conserving water and stressed the importance of using water more sparingly particularly during these prevailing conditions. The collaboration is said to have resulted in improved coordination and planning to the extent that water supply challenges are improving.