In what’s becoming a depressingly familiar sight across Africa’s richest square mile, neighbours gather around water tankers like it’s a Black Friday sale.

• Sandton endures a five-day water shutdown as Johannesburg Water pushes to complete long-overdue repairs on Pretoria Avenue.
• JoJo tanks and boreholes become lifelines as residents adapt to dry taps across Joburg’s wealthiest suburbs.
• A year-long infrastructure failure nears resolution — but not without testing the patience of Africa’s richest square mile.
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The sound of borehole water, the collection of refillable plastic containers, and queues of bath-robed housemates taking a shower in the garden around the JoJo tank now paints a daily picture in suburbs once synonymous with convenience, prestige, and never really having to think twice about turning on a tap. Even the trusted gym showers have finally seen their back-up tanks run dry.

The source of this municipal misery? A stretch of Pretoria Avenue in Sandton (off Katherine Street), where a leaking pipe has been under repair for over a year. What was once a road is now a yawning trench that’s taken up the full width of the street, blocking off both pedestrian and vehicular access and turning Pretoria Avenue into a no-go zone.

But all hope is not lost – at least, not entirely. In a long-awaited operation now underway, Johannesburg Water has embarked on a five-day full-scale shutdown from 9 May 2025 at 6pm until 13 May 2025 at 6pm to ‘finally’ get the pipe fixed. This isn’t just any repair job. The site needs to be completely dry before welding and other intensive repairs can proceed safely and effectively. According to the utility, a key milestone has already been reached with the successful removal of a clamp, allowing the final bits of residual water to be drained from the system. A low-pressure state has now been achieved, making it possible to move into the critical next phase of welding and sealing.

During this time, large swathes of Sandton and surrounding suburbs are being left high and quite literally dry. Affected areas include Sandhurst, Illovo, Sandown, Rivonia, Morningside, Parkmore, Hyde Park, Inanda, Wendywood, and many others – a veritable who’s who of Johannesburg’s most sought-after real estate.

To their credit, Johannesburg Water hasn’t left residents entirely to fend for themselves. A number of tankers have been deployed across key locations to provide emergency relief water supply, with more being added or moved based on community needs. Some of the current placements include:
• 46 Fricker Road, Illovo
• Otto Street, Illovo
• 83 Katherine Street, Sandown
• 27 Centre Road, Morningside
• Sandton Fire Station (Linden & Grayston Dr)
• SAPS Sandton
• Ernest Ullman Recreation Centre, Alma Road, Morningside

Elderly care facilities such as The Manor and Willowbrook Retirement Villages have also been equipped with tanks, while Sandown Clinic and Morningside Mediclinic remain prioritised for water delivery. Schools will be attended to on Sunday night before the new week kicks off, ensuring the young minds of Sandton can return to class with at least a splash of hygiene.

It’s hard to overstate how disruptive this situation has become. From luxury apartments to suburban family homes, residents are scrambling to maintain daily routines in an area used to scarcity of water or electricity of late. 5-litre bottled water in supermarkets have become the new milk and bread, while those with boreholes or private water tanks have become neighbours you’d like to know.

And then there’s the traffic. With Pretoria Avenue out of commission and Johannesburg Water declaring the area an active construction site, motorists and pedestrians are being urged to avoid the route entirely.

Johannesburg Water has made a point of working closely with Ward Councillors to keep residents informed and manage expectations. They’ve also repeatedly thanked residents for their patience and cooperation – two qualities being tested daily as taps run dry and frustrations mount. That said, the utility has been clear: safety is paramount, and the repair cannot be rushed. A dry work site is non-negotiable for welding and pipeline sealing to be done correctly – and for the first time in over a year, the city might finally be close to restoring this strip of road.

If Johannesburg Water’s timeline holds, residents can expect water to return by the evening of 13 May 2025. Until then, the mantra remains: conserve, cooperate, and carry your own containers. Because in Sandton these days, a shower isn’t just a convenience – it’s practically a splash out.

And as the sun sets on another day without water, the hope is that this five-day operation truly is the final chapter in the saga of Pretoria Avenue. If not, expect more tankers, more queues, and more neighbours bonding over buckets. Because nothing brings a community together quite like a shared crisis – especially one with no flushing toilets.

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