South Africa’s largest city battles unprecedented water crisis

For two weeks, Tsholofelo Moloi has been among thousands of South Africans lining up for water as the country’s largest city, Johannesburg, confronts an unprecedented collapse of its water system affecting millions of people.

A country already famous for its hours-long electricity shortages is now adopting a term called “water-shedding” — the practice of going without water, from the term load-shedding, or the practice of going without power.

Before the trucks finally arrived the day before, a desperate Moloi had to request water from a nearby restaurant.

Over the weekend, water management authorities in Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria, told officials from both cities that the failure to reduce water consumption could result in a total collapse of the water system.

That could mean weeks without water from taps — at a time when the hot weather is keeping demand for water high

In recent days, even residents of Johannesburg’s more affluent and swimming pool-dotted suburbs have found themselves relying on the arrival of municipal water tankers, which came as a shock to some.

Even South Africa’s notoriously troubled electricity system has played a role in the water problem, at least in part.