Man dies still waiting for metro to fix burst pipe

Speaking to the Advertiser a week before he met his end, from natural causes, on March 23, the late Calvin Smith (72) said a large volume of clean water has been going down the drain since early this year.

It has also left a deep hole, covered in water, in Cedar Street, which poses a serious danger to motorists.

He had complained to council on numerous occasions, but, to date, the city has not reacted to the problem.

According to Smith’s daughter, Leoni, her father reported the water wastage to the Department of Water and Sanitation. He even called the call centre, but the problem still persists.

“My dad died still trying to get the metro to fix the pipe; this is just poor service,” she said.

“After the endless empty promises by the metro, he reported the leak to the ward councillor, Johan Hendricks.

“The councillor did put pressure on the relevant department and workers did visit the site during this month, but failed to fix the leak, while leaving open trenches where the pipe is located.”

Hendricks confirmed that metro workers were on site, but added that the damage seems to be more extensive than initially anticipated.

“The metro needs to replace the entire pipe, so a contractor needs to be urgently appointed,” said Hendricks.

The Advertiser visited the site on Thursday afternoon, March 26, and found that the road is a mess, due to the leak.

Losing their loved one was bad enough said Leoni, but now they have to pay R7 000 for water instead of their usual R1 000, as reflected on their monthly account.

The Advertiser is awaiting comment from the metro.