Months of sewage, water and road problems on Monkor
RANDPARK RIDGE – Residents grew increasingly frustrated with water, sewage and road issues that have persisted since June.
Residents are up to their necks in sewage, water, road and speed bump problems on Monkor Road, Randpark Ridge, and have seen little help from the City.
Whenever resident Amari van Straaten drives home, she must navigate a deep hole in the ground which has only been marked thanks to her husband, even though City contractors had been on site to drain the hole but conducted no repairs.
Then she must go carefully over poorly-marked speed bumps that are so high they have caused damage to the bumpers of a number of cars.
Finally, right outside her house a water leak has been running on and off since June.
She can hardly count the number of times she has contacted Johannesburg Water and Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) to deal with these issues.
Ward 98 councillor Beverley Jacobs called it a small victory when a sewage leak was repaired a little distance up the same road, but the pavement had been left a mess, with a layer of toilet paper and sewage drying in the street.
“This is a result of years of mismanagement and it just highlights the lack of maintenance all over Joburg,” she told Randburg Sun.
“I have escalated these issues with the City many times since June but we are still waiting and are pushed from pillar to post.”
JRA spokesperson Lucia Mhlanga responded, “Upon the escalation of the matter to the relevant depot manager, a standby team from Region B was dispatched to Monkor [Road] to assess the situation and make the area safe until Johannesburg Water can start with back filling the open hole.
“Upon assessment and making the area safe for the time being, the matter was escalated to Johannesburg Water for their immediate attention. At this point, the JRA is awaiting an update from Johannesburg Water to inform us if the work to fix the leak has been completed. Once the leak is addressed, the JRA will then schedule road reinstatement work on the affected area.”
Questions have been sent to Johannesburg Water spokesperson, Eleanor Mavimbela, and the Randburg Sun will publish her comments as they are made.
