Residents from Krugersdorp are frustrated with burst water pipes that cause damage, despair and water disruptions. The latest in the saga is six water pipes bursting on one day.
A resident from Adam Street in Mindalore contacted the NEWS in a state of panic about another water pipe that had burst and that the water was running into her property.
“I have contacted the municipality several times just to hear that they have ten other jobs to do and can’t attend to my problem right now.”
The NEWS visited the site and saw that the water was flowing like a fountain and running down the road like a river. It was being wasted by the litres as it ran into the storm water drains.
The next day the NEWS noticed that municipal workers from the water department had fixed the pipe.
Lynn Pannall, a Democratic Alliance Ward Councillor who also sits on the Infrastructure Portfolio Committee of the Mogale City Local Municipality says an explanation for the ongoing burst water pipes needs to be provided.
“In light of the unprecedented high number of water disruptions in Krugersdorp, culminating in six on 2 July, a Democratic Alliance delegation urgently requested a meeting to obtain an official explanation from municipal officials for the spate of burst water pipes plaguing the municipality in the past two months.”
She says that Mogale City Municipality claims to care for its citizens yet the long list of causes provided by the DA team, ranging from vandalism to aging infrastructure, missed the mark.
“What came across instead was a lack of preventative maintenance planning, a reliance on crisis management as well as the inability to identify real causes and fix them,” says Pannall.
“A failing municipal communication system, with either no forewarning or delayed information to ward councillors and residents, caused major inconvenience and discomfort in the course of each disruption.”
She says the DA defends the rights of rate-payers to be alerted timeously during such emergencies and to be informed of their length.
“It proposes a forensic investigation into these breakdowns by senior municipal officials.”
Nkosana Zali, municipal spokesperson says they received six water pipe service requests on 2 July and that the relevant ward councillors were duly informed and that messages were posted on their website.
“The problem was attended to on the same day except for one in Adam Street, which was resolved the following day.”
Zali says they have an efficient team working on these requests as and when they arise.
“We also have set aside substantial amounts of money to address infrastructure refurbishment. These problems are not unique to our city since infrastructure all over is aging, but we will not relent and will strive to get on top of these matters.”
