Crestholme homeowner suffers for years after burst pipe
A part of the Crestholme community, including a homeowner, have suffered from the consequences of a continuously leaking burst pipe for the past three years.
A CRESTHOLME homeowner is left stranded with no home insurance as she suffers damage due to a continuous leak from a burst water pipe next to her property. Tanita Tintiger said the issue of the burst pipe dates back to 2021 with three to four incidents happening every year and the most recent burst being in early July.
Situated adjacent to the fencing of the property, Tintiger said that when the pipe bursts, the water flows down the road into her property.
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“The water comes into the property and, in some cases, causes flooding in the cottages. The bursts happen at any time, and we would have to wait hours for the municipal workers to come and switch off the water. We have been in communication with the municipality, and they have come to fix it, but the problem will occur again,” she explained.
Tintiger said the damage to their property by the water has affected them as they have had to claim from their insurance to fix the damage.
“We lost a tenant after the water flooded their rooms. They only stayed for a month and decided to leave because they couldn’t risk it as they had a baby on the way,” she said.
Tintiger said her property is not insured since they were dropped by their insurance. “After a few claims, we got an email from our insurance cancelling our contract, and when we asked our broker, they told us that the claims must have superseded our contribution. It is also hard to get insurance because we are flagged as a high risk,” she said.
Apart from the running water from the burst pipe getting into the property and leaving damage, the community is also left without water for hours and sometimes days.
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The eThekwini Municipality’s spokesperson, Gugu Sisilana, said the City is aware of the problem, admitting that the pipe is affecting a very large community in and around Crestholme.
“The burst pipe on this road was repaired by the eThekwini Water and Sanitation Unit. However, due to the frequent pipe bursts along this road, the department is looking into initiating a project to replace the aging 200 AC water pipe,” she said.
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