Johannesburg Water committed to increasing rate of reinstatements
Johannesburg Water took over reinstatement work in July 2022 and by April had completed roughly 15 500 jobs.
Broken water infrastructure is becoming more prevalent with with mop-up operations adding to the frustration.
Following water pipe repairs, Johannesburg Water is required to carry out a reinstatement, which is the municipal term for returning the removed covering of earth back to how it was. Pits accompanying mounds of sand cordoned off with branded tape dot many suburbs, with one such example being at the corner of Sjampanje and Lubbe Rouge Street. Here, the pipe was broken in late July and repaired on August 2.
In a media statement released by Johannesburg Water celebrating 15 205 reinstatements completed since July 2022, the entity noted how it had made noteworthy progress in the number of sites that need to be restored after ground excavations. The statement clarified that reinstatements included small-scale restoration work on tarmac, paved, and concrete surfaces, backfilling, and the construction of small valve boxes and chambers beneath a pavement or road.
Before July 2022, Johannesburg Roads Agency was the entity responsible for reinstatements. Senior operations manager at Johannesburg Water, Logan Munsamy elaborated, “It was decided that Johannesburg Water would take over the responsibility of performing reinstatements. We have 10 depots in seven regions across the City of Johannesburg, which are strategically situated to undertake service delivery issues. Each depot has about four reinstatement teams on average.”
To complete reinstatement work, Johannesburg Water employs both contractors and in-house teams.
“The medium to large-scale work is outsourced to three service providers who divide the workload among the regions. These service providers are appointed under a framework contract and have the necessary skills, equipment, and experience to take on this magnitude of work,” said Munsamy, adding that minor reinstatement tasks include small-scale paving, surface concreting, backfilling, and compaction.
The operations manager stated that reinstatements were a ‘massive’ task and was aware of residents’ frustrations.
“We have received some complaints about subpar workmanship or the slow pace at which some of the work is completed. When we become aware of such situations, we manage them per our contract management procedure,” he explained.
Johannesburg Water stated their solution to challenges would be to incrementally increase capacity. Stressing the backlog could not be eliminated overnight, motorist safety and traffic flow management were key considerations when prioritising work.
“However, because most suburbs’ infrastructure is old, the frequency of repairs is increasing,” said Munsamy, concluding that each fiscal year the entity would receive increased capital to prioritise the most pressing jobs.
