Metro explains reasons behind significant service delivery delays

Over the last few months, people have claimed that their complaints about the City’s damaged water pipes and growing sewage spill problems were not getting the attention they deserve.

September 20, 2021

Fanie Mthupha 1 minute read

The City of Ekurhuleni has explained why some residents were over the last few months experiencing significant service delivery delays from the Water and Sanitation Department when it comes to attending to reported water leaks.

This comes after countless residents of Witfield, who reported water leaks to the relevant departments, contacted the Advertiser complaining that they were facing service delivery delays, or not receiving services at all, from the department.
Irked residents of Witfield reported massive wastage of clean drinking water from two separate burst underground pipes in the area on numerous occasions since the problems started, but it took officials months to stop the leaks, turning the roads into little streams.

This publication consequently quizzed the metro on the reported delays in repairing water leaks in general, and the said shortages of resources to replace the ageing water infrastructure across the City.

According to metro spokesperson, Zweli Dlamini, the City was limited with the number of teams available due to Covid-19 regulations.
He, however, pointed out that the Water and Sanitation Department has recently returned to a full staff compliment and should be able to respond much quicker to water leaks.

Dlamini added that there is also a new contractor appointed to assist the department with the reinstatement of road surfaces where pipeline failures have been repaired.

Municipal workers finally managed to stop the water wastage from an underground pipe located on the corner of St Joseph and Calla avenues. It’s, however, unclear as to when the Roads department will tar the affected strecth of road.

Responding to reports that the metro was struggling to procure enough resources, therefore, impairing technicians’ efforts to deal with the growing number of damaged pipelines, Dlamini responded by saying: “The City is procuring the necessary material for the repair and maintenance of its infrastructure as and when it is required. There is currently no challenge with the procurements of material.”

Dlamini said the replacement of pipelines that are close to reaching the end of their lifespan will be placed on a capital budget and will be replaced if required.
“The City is assessing the condition of the pipelines and infrastructure on an annual basis.”