A number of Ekurhuleni’s – and in fact one of Gauteng’s – elite SAPS crime fighting units were knocked out of action on Monday due to a burst water pipe and the metro’s slow response to fixing the problem.
A building in Meyer Street, which is home to the Hawks Head Office Gauteng, Ekurhuleni’s Bomb Disposal Unit, the Child Protection, Sexual Offences and Family Violence (FCS) Unit, the Organised Crime Unit and the Crime Intelligence Unit, was severely affected by the burst pipe and staff had to eventually leave due to severe flooding and electrical problems.
The GCN was contacted by Capt Barry Botha, from the Hawks, who said that a burst pipe in Odendaal Street had been noticed at about 6.30am when people were arriving for work.
The metro was contacted and the matter reported as urgent.
However, hours later the water was still gushing and SAPS building’s electricity had been knocked out and the sub-basement and basement were flooding.
A transformer room owned by the metro was totally flooded which caused the electricity outage.
“People were stuck in the lift in the building and we had to call someone to come and get them out,” Botha said.
“I also had to hire a water pump to start pumping out the water, as the Bomb Disposal Unit already lost equipment stored in one of the basement safes and the other safes were at risk.”
Officers on the scene told the GCN that a building in President Street had been left without water on the weekend and the metro had come out to fix the problem which, they believe, has resulted in the pipe bursting next to their building.
Botha added that although they made repeated calls to the metro, they kept getting the same response of “be patient, we are on the way.”
The units had to close up shop as no one could work in the building.
Botha told the GCN that later in the day another water pipe burst in Victoria Street flooding the area and causing a power outage in the Germiston CBD.
The GCN has asked the metro for urgent comment on the matter.
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