A burst pipe in the middle of Mulbarton Road in Beverley left several households in the surrounding area running dry for hours. But what frustrated resident Peter Sorgdrager from Lonehill the most was the hole that had been dug in the road by Joburg Water during repairs. That has yet to be reinstated.
Sorgdrager said his main concern is the safety of motorists, “What would happen if someone drove through without seeing it? It would kill them. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about it because it has to be fixed by the Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA).”
He also mentioned that receiving generic responses from Joburg Water especially when it comes to attending to urgent matters is tiring.
“It is not that difficult honestly. They need to be detailed in their feedback. They should say, this has happened, and it will take this long because of this reason but expect water to be back between these times of the day. It is that simple.”
“Because there is nothing you can do when there is no water. We cannot flush, cook, clean properly, or bath, and what hurts more is that there are small businesses around that have to pause but for how long they do not know. I do not live far from a Bed and Breakfast, so you can imagine what they go through at the moment.”
The burst was repaired on January 26 according to Ward 94 councillor David Foley. He said the delay was caused by the availability of a welder to do the job, “Once the welder was on site, it was so quick for it to be repaired.”
Foley said he informed the JRA about refilling the hole in the road.
“If there are no more leaks, they will close the hole shortly. The full reinstatement will take a bit longer. The road can be used by people, that’s not a problem. JRA will need to advise, hopefully within two weeks as it is a main arterial.”
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