Taps run dry at OR Tambo, leaving travellers and businesses stranded
Johannesburg’s busiest airport, OR Tambo International, found itself in hot water quite literally this past weekend when taps ran dry for roughly five hours, leaving passengers frustrated and airport businesses scrambling.
According to The Citizen, between 6am and 11am on Saturday, both domestic and international terminals were affected by the outage, which the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) described on social media as “ongoing maintenance work.”
Businesses bear the brunt
The inconvenience wasn’t limited to weary travellers. Airport eateries reported immediate revenue losses, with one restaurateur estimating he lost R10 000 in a matter of hours. “We couldn’t brew coffee, wash dishes, or let staff maintain basic hygiene. In a short space of time, it became a health risk,” he said.
If even a fraction of the other eateries faced similar losses, he added, Acsa’s sudden “repairs” may have cost tenants several hundred thousand rands—without any compensation or prior warning.
Travellers vent online
Social media quickly became a hub for frustrated passengers. One traveller wrote on Facebook: “This is really not acceptable. We have family waiting for flights and no toilets are open. Do you not have any back-up water supply?”
DA Joburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille chimed in, calling the outage “incredible in the true sense of the word.” Others offered a more sardonic take: an X user joked about “ANC elite kids delivering water in tankers” while another painted a picture of confused seafood at Ocean Basket, bemused by Johannesburg’s water shortage.
A troubling pattern
The outage adds to a series of infrastructural headaches at South Africa’s national key point, which has recently endured power outages, roof leaks, and flight disruptions at other major airports like Cape Town International. Early mornings, peak travel time, make such interruptions particularly painful for families and international visitors.
No response from Acsa
Despite repeated attempts, The Citizen could not obtain comment from Acsa by publication time. As passengers and tenants alike digest the inconvenience, the incident raises broader questions about airport preparedness and contingency planning for critical infrastructure.
For now, travellers are left hoping that the next cup of coffee and the next tap of running water, arrives a little sooner.
{Source: The Citizen}
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