Water problems upset residents
Many Carletonville households either had water problems or no water again this week.
While many other residents were enjoying their long weekends, people living in the higher-lying parts of Carletonville Extension 8, in particular, were stuck without water. By Monday night, residents of parts of Reinecke, Kaolin, Mooi and Amanzimtoti streets did not have water. Residents and the ward councillor, Mr Carlos Rebelo, soon found out that this was due to a broken pipe at the corner of Coronation and Keiskamma streets in Carletonville.
On Tuesday, the problems worsened, despite the municipal workers starting work on the problem during the morning.
Although the water had returned to some households on Coronation and Kaolin streets by Tuesday night, the problems seemed to get worse by Wednesday.
At approximately 11:00, there was no water on Coronation Street, Pafuri Street, Umgeni Street or Usutu Street, while the water pressure was getting low on Touw Street and Tugela Street. Meanwhile, the site where the main water pipe broke at the corner of Coronation and Reinecke Streets about a month ago was still lying open.
By Monday afternoon, there was still a huge hole and heaps of sand on the sidewalk.
“The municipality cannot close it because the pipe keeps on breaking, and they don’t seem to know why,” says Rebelo.
The open hole is also a huge headache for the residents around it. According to the owner of this house, Mr Frans Coetzee, the municipality broke his wall while they were digging to get to the pipe. So far, they have failed to repair it.
The open hole is not only dangerous to motorists and pedestrians alike but also looks terrible.
“I have been cutting the grass on this sidewalk for years to make the area around my home look better. I will not be able to do so as long as there is a hole and the municipality does not level the site properly after they closed it up again,” says Coetzee.
He also complained that the municipality had not repaired the street at the T-junction of Reinecke- and Coronation streets properly after they dug it up to get to the broken pipe about a month ago.
The problems were still not resolved by print time.
