STILFONTEIN — Residents in Stilfontein, Khuma, and surrounding areas are urged to prepare for an extensive 16-hour water supply interruption this Thursday, 13 August 2026.The City of Matlosana Local Municipality issued a public notice on Tuesday confirming that the water disruption is a direct result of a scheduled Eskom maintenance outage at the Cardell Substation.
Because the Cardell Substation is the primary electricity provider for the Midvaal Water Company’s Water Treatment Plant, the power outage will completely halt operations at the treatment works and bulk water supply systems.Outage Details:Affected Areas: Stilfontein, Khuma, and surrounding neighborhoods.Date: Thursday, 13 August 2026.Outage Window: 06:00 to 22:00 (16 consecutive hours).Restoration Timeline: Water supply recovery will only commence after power is restored and municipal reservoirs begin refilling.According to municipal officials, Midvaal Water Company is making proactive efforts to pump and fill all municipal reservoirs to maximum capacity before the 06:00 maintenance cutoff to minimise the overall impact on local communities.
Despite these measures, the local municipality warned that residents may experience severely low water pressure or a total lack of water during the outage. The severity of the outage in individual households will ultimately depend on reservoir storage levels and the community’s overall water consumption habits throughout Thursday.”These planned works are necessary to ensure the continued reliability of the regional electricity network supporting the bulk water supply system,” the City of Matlosana stated, apologising to consumers for the inconvenience.
Disaster management and local authorities are strongly encouraging all residents to store sufficient water for essential domestic needs—such as drinking, cooking, and sanitation—and to use existing supplies with extreme care before and during the maintenance window.The municipality has promised to communicate further updates through official channels if there are any changes to the scheduled maintenance timeframe or the subsequent water restoration process.
