As power failures batter the supply system, many South Africans who already struggle without electricity for hours on end are now now forced to go without water.
A power outage at a pump station supplying reservoirs and water towers resulted in dry taps in several areas of Johannesburg and Pretoria, according to the provincial utility Rand Water this week.
This only served to upset south africans who had been forced to organize boring tasks like cooking and laundry on a daily blackout schedule for months.
Thomas Mabasa, a rail worker, said he had taken to showering at work — a luxury not afforded to his children.
“(They) have to go to school without bathing,” the 43-year-old told AFP.
He was among frustrated locals who took to the streets in Soshanguve, a township north of the capital, this week to protest the situation.
Demonstrators disrupted traffic, blocking roads with stones and waste.
“Sometimes we wait to see if the water will come back in the middle of the night to wake the kids up so they can shower before it runs out again,” Mabasa said, as tyres burned on the street behind him.
South Africa’s economy has been crippled by record power cuts in the past year, as troubles at debt-laden state energy firm Eskom worsened.
The utility provides about 90 percent of the country’s electricity.
But for years it has failed to keep pace with demand as it struggles to maintain its ageing coal-powered infrastructure.
Water and sanitation ministry spokeswoman, Wisane Mavasa said the government was working with water utilities “to improve the situation”.
“(The) energy crisis is impacting the water infrastructure,” she said.
