WATCH: More litres wasted as JW responds after six hours
WINDSOR EAST – Residents wait almost six hours for Johannesburg Water to fix a burst pipe.
Lucas Mufundisi, his wife and child came home to find that their gate entrance was blocked by Johannesburg Water (JW) employees after the main pipe was accidentally hit by workers who were laying fibre.
Sandile Mabuza, the supervisor working in Kings Avenue in Windsor East on 24 August said that one of the workers accidentally hit the pipe whilst digging the ground and they immediately called JW at around 11am.
“I must have used over R250 in airtime calling JW while water was gushing out into the street and into the homes of the residents. I explained to the operator that it was a major pipe burst and pleaded with them to get here,” Mabuza said.
He explained that they tried to minimise the damage by covering the burst pipe with two wheelbarrows but that did not work. “Usually, when we hit a pipe and it’s not that bad, we can fix it ourselves but this one was out of our control and we needed JW to attend to it,” he explained.
He further noted that the water that was wasted would have filled two swimming pools.
Joelene Kruger, a neighbour who was also affected by the pipe burst criticised JW for their late response, adding that it was during this water-scarce time that JW should improve their reaction time in order to save water.
Another neighbour, Sally Hassan, was upset that the water that burst caused damage to her property and said that in the ten years that she has lived in the area, she had never experienced such a pipe burst before.
Questions were sent to JW spokesperson Eleanor Mavimbela, but no response was received by the time of going to press.
Details: Johannesburg Water, 011 688 1400
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