Frustrated by two decades of recurring sewage flooding on their properties, residents of Carlswald Valley in Midrand have taken drastic action: they are withholding their municipal rates.
The crisis dates back to the late 1990s, when a sewer line built to serve a small townhouse development was adopted by Johannesburg Water as a municipal sewer. According to the Carlswald Residents Association (CRA), the line was never designed to handle the growing number of homes in the valley. “It now fails almost on a weekly basis,” said CRA chairman Wilfred Mole.
The problem is made worse during storms. Carlswald resident Penny Hoets described how the seasonal stream running through the valley turns into a raging torrent after heavy rain, gouging deep ditches and flooding properties with raw sewage. In 2010, a sewer collapse poured untreated sewage into local dams, killing thousands of yellowfish.
Despite repeated complaints and meetings with Johannesburg Water and the Johannesburg Roads Agency, residents say meaningful action has been slow. A 2016 “Final Basic Assessment Report” on a proposed new sewer line never led to a completed project. Temporary repairs in 2022 and 2023 were only stop-gap measures, forcing residents like Mole to spend over R1-million on private sewage diversion systems.
In March 2025, Mole warned Johannesburg Water that residents would withhold rates until proper infrastructure solutions were implemented. Johannesburg Water reportedly did not respond, and residents have since followed through on the threat. Last year alone, Mole says, his property rates amounted to R653,471.62 — money spent with no improvement to sanitation infrastructure.
Johannesburg Water says plans are now underway to upgrade the sewer line. Spokesperson Nombuso Shabalala told GroundUp that the project involves rerouting sections of the line away from the stream and installing erosion protection, with procurement expected in February 2026 and a contract award planned for August 2026.
However, the project has stalled because four property owners have refused access. Engineer Koos Smit, one of the objectors, argues the proposed work is not an upgrade but a completely new sewer line, and that environmental permissions were obtained under misleading pretenses.
With the sewer line still vulnerable to collapse and residents left to manage millions of litres of untreated sewage, Carlswald Valley is now at the center of a high-stakes standoff between homeowners and the city — and the rates revolt shows the depths of residents’ frustration.