Joburg Water reinstatements continue to pile up in Bryanston and surrounds

The battle for reinstatements across the Bryanston area continues. The corner of Bryanston Drive and Berkley Avenue is, sadly, no exception.

The intersection, like many across the area, was dug up by city entity Joburg Water earlier this year to conduct major repairs on a burst pipe.

After a number of follow-ups by residents and the ward councillor, the area was backfilled (filled with sand) but never fully reinstated by the entity.

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For residents who are not aware- Joburg Water is now fully responsible for all reinstatements following water pipe bursts. Previously, this was a duty undertaken by the Johannesburg Roads Agency.

According to ward 102 councillor David Potter, since the shift of jurisdiction to Johannesburg Water the backlog has only grown.

“No timeline for the mess and complexity has been provided by Johannesburg Water. Ward councillors had an engagement with Joburg Water [in October], but it did not yield much hope (due to the mass number of reinstatements outstanding).

“It could be months or years till the many holes get reinstated,” Potter said.

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This is worrisome as Johannesburg north continues to battle almost daily water outages as a result of ageing water infrastructure.

On September 28 the City noted that it was “gaining momentum” on its war on road reinstatements.

“I am happy to say we have begun to turn the corner on this issue after Joburg Water committed at the start of the financial year in July to dealing with the reinstatements backlog as a matter of absolute urgency,” said MMC of Environment and Infrastructure Services Michael Sun.

Unfortunately, this momentum cannot be seen in Bryanston and surrounding areas.

Ward 104 councillor Emi Koekmoer told the Chronicle in October that reinstatements also remain an issue in her ward.

She has gone so far as to put out a Google form to the residents and residents’ associations to try and get an idea of the scope of the issue.

Johannesburg Water was contacted for comment with regards to its current backlog of reinstatements as well as a timeline for the full reinstatement of the corner of Bryanston Drive and Berkley Avenue on November 7 and 10 but no response was made available in time for print.

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Residents are still however encouraged to report any outstanding reinstatements to Johannesburg Water so that there is a record available to the entity.

Email photos and details of the reinstatement to customer@jwater.co.za

Complaints can also be lodged to the City of Johannesburg Ombudsman, visit www.joburgombudsman.org.za

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