VIDEO: Street becomes water feature for a 12-hour period
WELTEVREDEN – Despite warnings of water shortages, Johannesburg Water has a 13-hour turnaround time to fix burst pipe.
As a Weltevreden Park resident got ready to go to bed on 7 July, her son alerted her to a water fountain, higher than her wall, originating from a burst pipe across the street in Without Avenue. So she phoned Joburg Water to report the issue. She was told that they were offline and nothing could be done; nor could she be given a reference number. As it was close to midnight, she assumed they were offline as it was so late. It was also at this point she realised her water was cut off. But as nothing could be done, she resolved to try again in the morning.
At 6.40am her husband called and spoke to a call-centre agent who said someone would be sent out immediately and in this instance, a reference number was given.
By 12.30pm, the issue was still unresolved. Her frustration is that her house was the only one without water – none of her neighbours were affected, something she was later able to ascertain. “I don’t want to be hit with a big water bill at the end of the month. I’ve called twice to report the problem and they [Joburg Water] have taken more than 12 hours to sort it out.”
It was only toward 1pm that a Joburg Water maintenance truck arrived to address the issue.
Questions were sent to Joburg Water spokesperson David Sibiya regarding the matter, and comment is awaited.
