Water outages addressed
LYNDHURST – The problem of constant water outages in the Lyndhurst area addressed in a meeting attended by residents and MMC Nico de Jager
The MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services in the City of Johannesburg, councillor Nico de Jager addressed residents about the problem of constant water outages in Lyndhurst and surrounding areas. A meeting called by Lyndhurst and Corlett Gardens Residents Association held on Tuesday, 17 September was attended by about 25 residents.
De Jager and his management team gave an historical analysis of the entity and its plans going forward.
He said that part of their mandate was to provide water and sanitation to those who never benefited from it before. The City’s maintenance requests are R170 billion of which only R300 million is received from Gauteng Provincial Government as a grant in aid.
Seemingly, the outages may be attributed to the ageing infrastructure as the pipes that carry water have been in place since they were laid in 1971 and were now reaching the end of their lifespan. De Jager said the problem was that money for water pipe infrastructure is spread among the City’s seven Regions and Ward 81 councillor Irene Rugheimer must submit an IDP (Integrated Development Plan) to Council. The consultative process was expected to take place on the weekend of 21 September.
The City’s depot manager, Nkosinathi Xaba as well as the acting COO and general manager for Operations of Johannesburg Water provided residents with much-needed feedback on their plans going forward.
They indicated that the main problem was joining the new plastic pipes with the older concrete pipes as collars needed were no longer available.
The main 450mm flow line will be looked at and Johannesburg Water had already started an inspection in Lyndhurst and Corlett Gardens with Rugheimer to find problems spots.
The management team which meets with the MMC on an ongoing basis will give feedback to residents about the emergency plans and how they will accommodate them during this tough financial situation in the City.
“Councillor Irene and I believe that we will see solutions to the City’s problem but Mayor Herman Mashaba has only been in office for just over three years,” said Gary Rubin, co-founder of Lyndhurst and Corlett Gardens Residents Association. De Jager insisted that improper financial transactions will not happen under his watch.
Residents in the meeting raised their concerns in a dignified manner and the City’s team had promised to follow up on all complaints.
Rubin advised residents to use Johannesburg Water call centre number and press option B or SMS line which he had used before and received a good service.
He said their Twitter account is live for 24 hours a day and he finds it to be very useful. He promised that the residents association would continue to interact with the City and residents.
“A problem raised was lack of feedback by call centre agents on problems in hand and MMC de Jager has promised that he will engage with all stakeholders to give better feedback.”
Details: Johannesburg Water call centre 011 375 5555 or SMS 076 333 5052; Lyndhurst and Corlett Gardens Residents Association 082 081 5645; Ward 81 councillor Irene Rugheimer irenerugheimer@gmail.com
Related article:
https://northeasterntribune.co.za/241373/take-note-planned-water-outages-affect-parts-joburg/
