Constantia Kloof hit by water issues
CONSTANTIA KLOOF – Ward 89 councillor says flooding is a 'long-standing' problem.
Concerned Constantia Kloof residents have demanded answers from the City of Joburg about the various water and maintenance issues plaguing the area.
They have taken up the problem with Ward 89 councillor Amelia Bester, who has asked the relevant entities to address the issue.
Parts of the area had water outages last week that apparently stemmed from a burst pipe on the corner of Wilhelmina Avenue and Oribi Street. Another issue is the flooding in the area caused by underground water. Bester, community leader Glenn Fowler, and Joburg Water regional manager Kobus Beukes visited the area to observe the crisis.
Bester told Roodepoort Northsider that this has been a long-standing problem, and she had already asked the relevant entities to address the matter. “I was invited to a meeting by residents two weeks ago to discuss these issues. We want a long-term solution from the Joburg Roads Agency and Joburg Water to address this problem,” she said.
According to Fowler, the pipe was old and needed to be replaced. “The pipe was laid down in the 1970s. It’s now a rusty steel pipe with holes in it. It needs to be attended to because this is the second burst in a year,” he said.
Bester said Beukes had committed himself to solving the problem. She wanted the Joburg Roads Agency to deal with the underground water overflowing into the street and for Joburg Water to attend to the burst pipe.
She also complained about building retaining walls. “Builders’ retaining walls [interrupt the] natural flow of underground water. The water seeps through the ground in Oribi Street, [and] at times [causes] flooding in the Groot Constantia complex,” Bester said.
She also asked for a long-term solution and pleaded with Beukes to address the issue of factual and timeous information from the entities on social media platforms
