{"id":95624,"date":"2026-02-10T16:23:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T16:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/civil-society-calls-for-disaster-declaration-in-joburg-water-crisis"},"modified":"2026-02-10T16:34:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T16:34:17","slug":"civil-society-calls-for-disaster-declaration-in-joburg-water-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/civil-society-calls-for-disaster-declaration-in-joburg-water-crisis","title":{"rendered":"Civil Society Calls for Disaster Declaration in Joburg Water Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>A civil society group said residents have been living under \u2018Day Zero conditions\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Civil society group WaterCAN has warned that Johannesburg residents are living under \u2018Day Zero conditions\u2019, calling for the water crisis to be declared a national disaster.<\/p>\n<p>Executive director Dr Ferrial Adam explained that the situation is critical, with dam levels at 58.3% capacity and the potential for drought-stricken months ahead.<\/p>\n<p>The city is also fighting leaking reservoirs, burst pipes, and a lack of storage capacity. She said that the recent explosion at a Rand Water pump station exacerbated the issue, affecting water supply in many areas for several days.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Joburg Water systems, the municipality part, is very weak, very fragile, and they haven\u2019t been able to get the system balanced.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Adam adds that she was currently experiencing Day 12 of no water in her suburb.<\/p>\n<p>And while communities are banding together to help each other, with many residents offering additional water or access to their boreholes or swimming pools, this cannot be the reality.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s chaotic, and as we speak, there are three areas that are planning protests this week,\u201d she said.She emphasised the need for a national focus on water management, better infrastructure, and a more water-aware society.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA state of national disaster would make a difference by allowing funding. And we need more skills,\u201d Adam said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">South-Africa<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; South-Africa. A civil society group said residents have been living under \u2018Day Zero conditions\u2019. Civil society group WaterCAN has warned that Johannesburg residents are living under \u2018Day Zero conditions\u2019, calling for the water crisis to be declared a national disaster. Executive director Dr Ferrial Adam explained that the situation is critical, with dam [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":95623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-95624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Civil Society Calls for Disaster Declaration in Joburg Water Crisis - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A civil society group said residents have been living under \u2018Day Zero conditions\u2019. 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