South Africans are protesting the lack of water and electricity due to a power failure at a pump station. This further aggravated residents who for months have had to plan mundane activities such as cooking and do laundry based on a daily blackout schedule. The power failure at a pump station feeding reservoirs and water towers caused taps to run dry in parts of Johannesburg and Pretoria, provincial utility Rand Water said this week. Rand Water is working with water utilities to improve the situation, but the energy crisis is impacting the water infrastructure. The criminality and water scarcity are also contributing to the crisis.