‘Declare a disaster’: WaterCAN warns Joburg edging towards ‘Day Zero’

As taps run dry across parts of Johannesburg, advocacy group WaterCAN is calling for the city to be declared a disaster area. Areas including Emmarentia and Parktown have endured water outages for more than 20 days, linked to a crack in the Hursthill Reservoir 2 that has been under repair since November. WaterCAN says this is not about drought, but about infrastructure failure, poor planning and weak accountability. Residents describe long queues for tankers, rising tensions and growing desperation as communities struggle without reliable water. Phemelo speaks to WaterCAN Executive Director, Dr Ferriel Adam, and hears from affected residents.