In December last year, contractors put up streetlights in President Park and in the process hit a water pipe, twice.
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These contractors erected the streetlight poles in a very haphazard manner and left, never to be heard from again.
On 20 June, a new contractor came to carry on with the uncompleted job. We woke up to no water pressure and after investigating, we discovered that the new contractor had hit the water pipe with a pick. The water poured down the street the whole day. When it was still not repaired by 3pm, with the new contractors onsite, we went to have a look.
When I phoned Joburg Water, the man who answered the phone said it was a burst pipe. I told him that this was not true as a contractor had put a pick through it. It is easy for people to blame the infrastructure, but I get very annoyed when that is not the case. The job was only completed about 10pm. I am so tired of them blaming aged infrastructure for bad workmanship. We have just got back from Kwa-Zulu Natal and they have water restrictions. Water is a very precious commodity and to see it just run down the street like a river the whole day and nobody comes to repair it, is just criminal.
The man from City Power said the contractor reported it the moment they damaged it at 9am in the morning, as did a few people in the area, but alleged that Joburg Water would only come after 4pm when they are paid overtime. Such a disgrace when you saw the amount of water wasted, not to mention the inconvenience as we still had a trickle of water.
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