The sewage is gone now, thankfully, but residents have been waiting three months for Joburg Water to cover up the hole they left after repairing a leak.
The sewerage pipe on the corner of Valley Road and Delli Street burst in February. Residents like Mark Mac Donnell have since grown impatient of seeing the ditch on the side of the road, with a mound of earth beside it, and tape running around it all.
“We reported it in February and I have been emailing Joburg Water to follow up since then but there has been no response to these,” Mac Donnell complained. “Only once did they come and pump out water that had collected in the hole and then they disappeared again.”
The hole is large enough to fit two cars. Water is now running from one end of the broken sewerage pipe. It fills up in the hole until it reaches the part of the pipe on the other side of the hole, and then re-enters that pipe. No sewerage has been running since February but as to why there is water coming from the pipe now, no one can say.
“It feels like Joburg Water just wants to wear you down so that you stop asking for help. You shouldn’t have to contact the ward councillor and the media to sort something small like this out,” Mac Donnell added.
Ward 99 councillor Nicole van Dyk said she has escalated this matter many times to Joburg Water.
“Joburg Water have not responded on why it is not repaired but they have acknowledged the fault,” she said. “They only have three teams and cannot keep up with the amount of reinstatements in Joburg. However, they should be able to backfill this hole which is largely sand.”
Questions were sent to Joburg Water spokesperson Nolwazi Dhlamini on May 22 as to why there has been a delay when the ground will be covered, and what the turnaround time is for reinstatements of this nature.
She said she had sent the query to the relevant department and it may take longer than 48 hours to receive a response. No further comment was given at the time of being published.
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