Prolonged water shortages in parts of Johannesburg are beginning to take an economic toll, with several guest houses, restaurants and small businesses shutting their doors as taps run dry.
In Melville, residents and business owners say they have been without water for nearly four weeks, leaving daily life and operations severely disrupted.
Frustration has spilled onto the streets this week, with residents from Westdene, Brixton and surrounding areas staging protests over what they describe as an ongoing failure to restore basic services.
Guest house owner Kobus Bothma said the situation has made it impossible to operate.
“You cannot run a guest house without sanitation. We have a pharmacy here, people are sick, and some businesses are closed. You can’t allow guests to come if they can’t use the toilet or shower. That’s simply not possible,” he said.
Residents say the crisis extends beyond inconvenience, affecting health, hygiene and livelihoods. Many argue that those without the means to install backup water systems, such as storage tanks, are suffering the most.
“We don’t want empty talk, we want action,” one resident said. “The people hit hardest are those who can’t afford alternatives. It feels ridiculous that we’ve been without water for weeks and it’s not the first time. This has been happening since last year.”
Community members have called on the city to present a clear and concrete plan to resolve the outages, accusing authorities of poor water management as the crisis drags on.
For now, in some neighbourhoods, dry taps are not just an inconvenience they are costing jobs, income and patience.