Joburg warns of 12-hour Blue Hills water shutdown and 8-hour Eikenhof power outage this week

Johannesburg residents are set to face planned water and power interruptions this week after Joburg Water announced a 12-hour supply shutdown in parts of Blue Hills and City Power scheduled maintenance at the Eikenhof Substation that will cut electricity for several southern suburbs.

Water cut in Blue Hills: 9am to 9pm on 29 July

Joburg Water said a section of Blue Hills will be without water from 9am until 9pm on 29 July while crews carry out the “commissioning of new water infrastructure”. The utility warned customers to expect “no water for the duration of 12 hours” during the maintenance.

The affected area falls under Region A and covers a broad stretch of Blue Hills, including extensions 21, 22, 53, 24, 71, 19, 17, 81, 76, 116, 117, 110, 15 and 32. Joburg Water listed specific properties and locations that will lose supply:

• Blue Hills Agricultural Holdings
• Sunlands Stables
• Bridle Park Agricultural Holdings
• Santa Maria
• Saddle Brook Estate
• Eaton Farm
• America International School
• All streets in these areas

Temporary water measures

To reduce immediate hardship, Joburg Water said it has arranged temporary supply points. Water tankers are to be stationed at the Blue Hills Shopping Centre, at an engine garage on the R55, and at a Sasol garage on the corner of the R55 and Summit. The utility cautioned that the tankers are a contingency: they are provided “for when the set/planned time on the shutdown notice is exceeded (24hrs),” at which point they could be deployed for customers to access.

Joburg Water said the work is intended to “improve service delivery and continuity of water supply” once the new infrastructure is operational.

City Power maintenance at Eikenhof Substation: Friday, 31 July 2026, 8am–4pm

City Power confirmed that the Eikenhof Substation will undergo essential network maintenance on Friday, 31 July 2026, with an outage scheduled from 8am until 4pm. The work falls under the Reuven Sub-District Centre in Region F.

The utility said the interruption is “necessary to do essential maintenance work on our network which is part of our program of constantly striving to provide a better service.” City Power listed the following areas as set to be affected:

• Rispark
• Southfork
• Comptonville
• Parts of Devland
• The Johannesburg Prison
• Naturena
• Kibler Park
• Alveda Park
• Mayfield Park

City Power also urged caution during the outage, saying:

“As the supply may be restored at any time, customers are urged to always treat their electricity supply points as live.”

The utility apologised in advance for the inconvenience the interruption will cause to households and businesses.

What residents should know

Both utilities framed the planned disruptions as part of maintenance work intended to improve service delivery. Residents in the affected areas should make short-term preparations for the water and power interruptions and note the temporary tanker points should the shutdown exceed planned times.