OR Tambo water outage sparks backlash as Acsa disputes claims tenants were left in the dark

A weekend water outage at South Africa’s busiest airport has triggered frustration among travellers and businesses, with some tenants claiming they were blindsided when taps suddenly ran dry.

But Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) insists the disruption at OR Tambo International Airport was planned and that those operating inside the airport were warned ahead of time.

The disagreement has sparked debate about communication, infrastructure maintenance and the ripple effects when basic services fail at one of the country’s most important travel hubs.

Maintenance work behind the outage

According to Acsa, the water disruption was linked to maintenance on a leaking valve that needed urgent attention to prevent further water loss.

The repair work was scheduled to begin late on Friday night and was expected to be completed early Saturday morning.

Ofentse Dijoe, an Acsa spokesperson, said tenants and stakeholders had been informed in advance.

Emails notifying stakeholders of the planned work were sent out on Thursday, followed by reminders on Friday through the airport’s stakeholder and commercial partner WhatsApp groups.

Maintenance teams began the work at around 11:30pm on Friday, with water supply expected to return by 5am on Saturday.

But things didn’t go according to plan.

Unexpected flooding delays repairs

While isolating the water supply, technicians encountered an unexpected problem.

Backflow from upstream pipes flooded the valve chamber where workers were operating.

For safety reasons, the team had to pause repairs while the chamber was pumped out.

That delay meant the repair project stretched several hours beyond schedule, with water only restored at around 10am on Saturday roughly five hours later than expected.

Acsa says the work was necessary to replace a leaking valve and prevent more serious water loss in the future.

Businesses say disruption hit hard

For tenants operating inside the airport, however, the extended outage caused immediate problems.

One business owner described the situation as chaotic once taps stopped working.

Restaurants, cafés and food outlets rely heavily on water for basic operations from preparing food and washing dishes to maintaining hygiene standards.

One restaurateur said their business lost around R10,000 in revenue during the outage.

Without water, they could not brew coffee, clean dishes or allow kitchen staff to wash their hands creating what they described as a serious health concern.

“If even 10 of the restaurants here experienced similar losses, the collective damage could run into hundreds of thousands of rand,” the owner said.

Some tenants also claimed they had not received prior notice of the maintenance.

Travellers take to social media

Passengers also felt the effects as the disruption unfolded.

Several travellers posted complaints online about closed restrooms and limited access to basic facilities inside the terminals.

One frustrated user wrote on Facebook that family members waiting for flights could not find open toilets in parts of the airport.

The issue quickly gained traction on social media, where users often turn when airport disruptions occur.

Among those commenting was Helen Zille, the Democratic Alliance’s Johannesburg mayoral candidate, who described the situation as “incredible in the true sense of the word”.

Others reacted with the kind of dark humour that South Africans often use when facing service failures.

One post jokingly suggested that tanker trucks could soon be awarded massive contracts to supply water instead of fixing the taps.

Why infrastructure at airports matters

Airports are essentially small cities, hosting thousands of travellers and workers every day.

At OR Tambo the country’s busiest aviation hub basic services such as electricity, water and sanitation must run almost flawlessly to keep operations moving smoothly.

Even short disruptions can quickly ripple through restaurants, retail stores, airline lounges and passenger facilities.

For businesses operating in high-rent airport spaces, a few hours of lost service can translate directly into lost revenue.

Communication under scrutiny

While Acsa maintains that tenants were informed about the planned work, the conflicting accounts suggest that communication may not have reached everyone effectively.

In large, complex environments like airports, ensuring that every operator receives critical maintenance updates can be a challenge.

Still, the incident has raised questions about how infrastructure maintenance is communicated and how businesses should prepare for unexpected delays.

For now, the leaking valve has been repaired and water service restored.

But the weekend outage has left tenants and travellers with a reminder of how quickly daily operations can unravel when something as simple as a tap stops running.