Residents of Parktown West and surrounding suburbs are still sitting without water after 20 consecutive days, despite Johannesburg Water confirming late this afternoon that the unprotected SAMWU strike has officially ended. The utility announced at 16:00 that employees had agreed to return to their workstations “with immediate effect” following “constructive engagement”.

But for residents, the end of the strike does not solve the immediate crisis. Earlier in the day Johannesburg Water acknowledged the unprotected strike — which began on 6 February — and confirmed that it had placed severe pressure on already-strained operations, including tanker deployment, where drivers were reportedly on a go-slow or not working at all.

Despite today’s update, no restoration timeline has been provided, and communities remain frustrated by the lack of communication.

Ward Councillor Kyle Jacobs, who yesterday “gatecrashed” an internal Johannesburg Water meeting after obtaining a link independently, says councillors were deliberately excluded from official briefings.

“We raised the issue of why councillors weren’t invited or engaged,” Jacobs said. “They claimed they would only brief councillors towards the end of the week — which I objected to. Residents need feedback now. But even after posing our questions, nothing credible came out of that engagement. They can’t give a timeline for restoration.”

Jacobs also highlighted another emerging crisis: tanker deployment is being disrupted. “Johannesburg Water is facing a labour dispute that is affecting water tanker operations. Drivers are on a go-slow or not working at all,” he said.

Local resident Cheryl Stevens, who has lived in Parktown West for 47 years, described the situation as “beyond unbearable”.

“For the last 20 days, we’ve not had a drop of water in the larger part of Parktown — and no communication at all. If you look at Region B, what is happening? Region B is on bypass. That’s all we hear from Joburg Water,” Stevens said.

HOT 1027 News is reporting that residents from Parktown West and surrounding areas may gather along Jan Smuts Avenue on Wednesday morning to demand transparency and action.

For now, the community continues to wait — without water, without updates, and without any sense of when relief may come.

A pamphlet distributed into local resident networks announcing the protest on Wednesday.