Balder Road residents say they feel like they’ve been played for April Fool’s after a pipe that took more than three years to fix burst again, just days after repairs were completed.

Instead of relief, residents were met with a familiar sight: Water once again seeping through the road, undoing recent work and reopening old frustrations.

Ward 106 councillor Chris Santana said the situation highlights ongoing concerns about workmanship and repeated failures. “I’m back today again at Balder Road where we’ve had some improvements in trying to fix the issues and getting the road resurfaced and the patching done.

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“Unfortunately, we’re back for take two of our swim party, where Helen had a swim, as the pipe has burst yet again. So, this issue has yet to be resolved.”

Santana did not hold back on his opinion on the cause of the repeated failures. “It’s an issue that we raise as councillors all the time regarding substandard work, poor workmanship, and not compacting the pipes properly when we actually do reinstatements, by just dumping soil on the pipes again, which then causes a breakage within the line.

“This is exactly what we experienced here.”

Resident Susan Mattrom, who lives on the street, described how the road had been fully excavated and new pipes installed. “Johannesburg Water came yesterday, dug up the entire road, now it’s all the way across, and they have laid new pipes all the way across the road.

“It looks like they are supporting them now, so that hopefully they won’t break when the pipes are under pressure from vehicles driving over the road.”

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She added that the community was waiting for final steps to be completed as the entire road is closed. “Now we wait for Johannesburg Water to come back and do the backfill, and we’re hoping that happens today. Then, of course, JRA will come back and do the re-tarring.”

For residents, the timing could not have been more ironic.

After three and a half years of reporting, repairs, and even a pool party meeting that drew attention from Helen Zille and Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero, residents say they expected a lasting solution.
Instead, they were left with a sense that the joke was on them.

Responding to the recurrence failure, Johannesburg Water spokesperson Nombuso Shabalala said the recurrence is linked to the underlying condition of the pipeline, which forms part of ageing infrastructure that has experienced multiple failures over time.

“This makes it more susceptible to re-bursts, even after repairs.”

Shabalala added that once excavation is completed, teams will determine whether the latest leak is a new failure point or a recurrence at the same section. In the meantime, water supply is being isolated to minimise losses, with contractors expected to carry out further repairs.

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