In the City of Gold, a Struggle for a Drop of Water
For many residents, the water crisis has become a test of dignity, governance, and survival.
Johannesburg’s water crisis is peculiar; it has brought politics, civil society, and the media all to the forefront. Collectively, there is a dire need for quick solutions, but reality is unable to provide them. A small few are raising major concerns about how this will alter the social fabric and the relationship between Johannesburg and its people.
Water is one of the most pertinent resources to society. Throughout history, communities were formed and developed around water sources: the River Thames, the Nile River, or the Suez Canal. Wars have been fought over the lack of access to, or exploitation of, water sources. It has been crucial to humanity.
Furthermore, in certain cultures and religions, water holds sacred value. It is the embodiment of purification. Beyond its biological necessity, water has been highly esteemed and intertwined with the social identity of society.
Particularly with urbanisation and modern sewage systems, it provided the ability for people to live inland and prioritise lives that focused more on intellectual tasks, which developed into service industries. Increased accessibility and removal from the need to live directly by a water source provided greater development across the world and in Johannesburg.
It improved life expectancy as people’s sanitation improved with access to running water and sewage systems. Water was significantly safer for consumption, and there were fewer waterborne diseases. The improvements were felt throughout society.
However, all these developments, and the importance and value of water, went unnoticed when it existed in fair supply and now go strained and unprovided in Johannesburg.
Suddenly, the progress, the busyness, and the hustle and bustle that is Johannesburg is forced to come to a halt. Communities are left wanting and waiting to receive not a luxury, but a human right — water.
Schools are unable to run as students do not have access to adequate and functioning restroom facilities. Students are forced to source water to bring to school daily as taps run dry. They are forced to go to school in an undignified state, unwashed and unclear as to when the next shower may come.
Hospitals, with doctors who took an oath to save lives and be of use to society, are unable to do their jobs as their concerns shift from patients to securing water to keep people afloat. Already overburdened with countless lives, they are further forced to compensate for a government that failed to maintain infrastructure and water systems. Suddenly, their job, which was already hard, becomes far harder.
Parents and people with young and elderly dependents are concerned not only for themselves, but for the safety and well-being of those in their care. No access to water increases the risk of compromised immunity, and diseases become more prevalent. They are forced to adapt and find ways to keep their own protected. They go from citizens to survivors, wondering when the nightmare will end and when someone will do something that is more than words.
No water does not only cause inconvenience but fundamentally strains an already strained population even further. It pushes societies to no longer share and understand one another and instead become individualistic and defensive of their resources.
The city cannot function on water tankers, water bottles, and boreholes. Those resources themselves are not limitless and are far from perfect. They are perceived to prioritise select communities, expose those who have means and access to resources, and further highlight the degree of neglect communities feel.
It does not happen within the normal functioning of society, but in the stagnation of society — in the worst kind of environment, where people remain at home and have no outlet for their anger. It is left unaddressed, unengaged, and disingenuous, leaving many without any other choice but to take action of their own.
Already throughout Johannesburg, there have been protests regarding the water issue. Communities have begun to use their own voices and ask their government to find a solution to a pressing problem.
It is important that they respond swiftly and honestly. They cannot allow this situation to further enhance distrust and leave people resentful towards the government, or it will further disillusion the youth who have known nothing but dysfunction.
More importantly, they must find a solution that brings society together over playing politics — to set an example that water is not a political issue but a human issue. One that, if not solved, can lead to some of the worst outcomes.
To, for once, remove the politics and make it simply about people. To show people that they need not be affiliated with a political party to be taken seriously. To give people the belief and feeling that their voice matters, whether they are in government or not — simply for the mere fact that they are citizens who have a dire need of a solution, clarity, and transparency.
The longer there is no water, the more anger is capitalised upon. The more money is lost as people are unable to attend their jobs and places close in the interim while they deal with the water crisis. Society remains left stuck, without a clear way forward. People will want to define that way for themselves.
On the other hand, the ANC truly is having a huge blunder at the moment. Holding the mayorship while the DA is making a concerted effort to ensure they become the leading party, with Helen Zille as mayor, they should be more than concerned about the current state of service delivery because Johannesburg is the spotlight city, and they are being exposed as a failing party with Dada Morero at the forefront.
Furthermore, Dada Morero fought Loyiso Masuku for the seat of Johannesburg’s mayorship, making it seem that the party does not have clear priorities, but may be more concerned internally about hierarchy than the current situation at hand. So the politics are already more than at play.
Truthfully, this Johannesburg issue will contest everything that has been assumed about the resilience of its people — their willingness to live through service delivery failures and find their own way through the degrading city. It leaves many people with the question: can they still believe in politics and government?
Will it be the promise that was made — the prosperous society that continues to be envisioned — or is it a dark reality that requires more than visionary thinking, but simple concern for humans and their basic rights? Even if it is not through government, not together but alone, in a new society defined by a different water source?