The Randburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) is deeply concerned about the ongoing water outages affecting various areas of the city of Johannesburg including Randburg. While we acknowledge the efforts made by the city in providing water tankers and in some instances, allowing throttling to avoid a total shutdown of the system, the Chamber believes that proper planning and infrastructure development is crucial in solving the current crisis.
As organised businesses, we believe that water outages have had a significant impact not only on households but also on business operations. The recent outages directly impact businesses through production disruptions for water-intensive industries, increased operational costs for alternative water sourcing and water saving measures and reduced productivity due to sanitation issues.
The Randburg Chamber acknowledges the mayor’s efforts to convene public engagements with affected communities, even though no tangible solutions were provided including timelines for restorations. We believe that such engagements are vital and regular updates are thus essential.
Furthermore, we believe it is essential for the City of Johannesburg to keep business leaders informed of water disruptions and alternative water provisions as some businesses, SMEs in particular are vulnerable in nature. We are also informed that mayor Dada Morero is set to appear before the portfolio committee of Water and Sanitation today, in relation to the ongoing water challenges in the city. We remain hopeful that authorities will find a lasting solution so that water as a basic human right is accessible leading to thriving businesses and the economy.