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As devastating as the scene remains on Pretoria Avenue in Sandton’s Ward 91, an online meeting with stakeholders held on July 29 revealed the situation to be a lot more serious, and way more far-reaching than previously known.
Several issues pertaining to leaks across Ward 91 were discussed in the virtual engagement, attended by various stakeholders, including residents, business owners, ward councillor Andrew Stewart, and a team of representatives from Johannesburg Water (JW).
The meeting revealed that the turmoil on Pretoria Avenue does not exist in isolation. The ward is also impacted by a leak on the M1 along Grayston Drive, as well as a gaping, odorous cesspit in the middle of 5th Street in Wynberg.
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Members of the business community were engaged on July 30 towards ascertaining the situation for them on the ground.
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“Well, we don’t get walk-in clients anymore because the hole disrupts the entrance to my shop, and the flow of traffic – especially with the one-ways here,” said Stiaan Du Plessis, a senior manager at a hiring depot directly in front of the hole. “We’ve been in communication with the complex owner, and he’s talked with various stakeholders in the community. According to them, this will be barricaded – just to ease traffic, and to help us be able to drive in and out of the shop.”
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Du Plessis dated the hole back to May, recounting an incident which occurred ahead of a temporary barricade being installed to demarcate the giant hole.
“It was dug up at the start of May to repair a water leak,” Du Plessis recalled. “One of the entrances were not barricaded at the start. A taxi drove into it in the early morning hours – it obviously being dark.”
Vicky Campbell, owner of Vicky’s Veganry Kitchen, also lamented the devastation wrought on businesses on 5th Street because of the allegedly unattended hole. Campbell further bewailed how tenants are complaining that by the time Uber drivers accept orders, the food is already cold.
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“Uber drivers are cancelling on collections of orders, which means that even if a person has ordered via Uber, they have to keep on trying while drivers are cancelling,” Campbell said. “That affects their businesses in terms of recommendations on social [media]. People are quick to complain on my food arriving late, and don’t understand that Uber drivers don’t want to come here because of the hole.”
Campbell confirmed that she was a part of the stakeholder engagement, where JW said they haven’t assigned a contractor towards undertaking the heady task of fixing the site towards reinstatement. She is frustrated by the entity’s seeming lack of urgency and lip-servicing.
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“A lot was said, but there’s no actual information. JW was here, maybe two weeks ago, [a security guard] saw their vehicle. But there haven’t been contractors coming to look, no contractors coming to quote – as far as we are aware,” said Campbell.
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Ward 91 councillor Andrew Stewart supplied his feedback shortly following the stakeholder engagement session. Stewart indicated that Johannesburg water are saying that the three water leak issues in ward 91, unfortunately, provide them with unusually complex issues from a technical stand point. This set them in a position which requires them to seek the services of highly specialized contractors, which they are in the process of doing.
“They don’t seem to be able to provide a time frame for the appointment of contractors because they are also quite rare, and some components also need to be sourced from abroad,” said Stewart. “To my understanding, once contractors are actually appointed, then the Wynberg job should take about a month, but the hole itself can be closed before then. The job on Pretoria Avenue may take longer than a month.
“The M1 job is not quite as pressing and is subject to budget being available, which means that it may only be addressed next year, in a new financial year,” Stewart concluded.
JW were contacted for their comment on July 30, with a follow-up enquiry issued to them on August 2. They still hadn’t responded at time of going to press.
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