Ward 106 councillor Chris Santana said residents in Douglasdale continue to spend more days without water than with, as repeated pipe bursts continue to disrupt daily life.

“This has left our residents in the Douglasdale area now only having two days of water in the past week.”
He said the latest failed repair attempt was after a streetlight cable was struck during excavation work, forcing repairs to be halted until the area was made safe. “Johannesburg Water came to do the repair, but the pipe burst again. Then, they hit a City Power streetlight cable, which sparked, resulting in the work being abandoned.”

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Santana criticised the damage caused during repairs, saying it often resulted in multiple municipal departments having to become involved. “When [Johannesburg Water] comes in to do pipe repairs, they need to stop breaking so much infrastructure just to get to their pipes. There is no accountability in terms of the destruction they cause every time they carry out repairs.”

Responding to questions, Johannesburg Water spokesperson Nombuso Shabalala said the leaks at the corner of Westway and Darter roads were caused by high pressure within the network, which resulted in the failure of the affected pipe section. However, she said the operating pressure in the area is approximately four bars, which falls within the acceptable operating range. “At this stage, there is no indication that pressure management practices contributed to the pipe failures.”

She added that following repairs, Johannesburg Water would complete backfilling after about five days to allow the repaired section to stabilise before permanent paving reinstatement begins.

Johannesburg Roads Agency confirmed it has inspected the site, but were awaiting a reinstatement order from Johannesburg Water before repairing the damaged road and pavement infrastructure.

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Acting head of department for regional operations Mpho Maruping said the agency cannot proceed until Johannesburg Water confirms that its work has been completed. “The timeline is usually aligned with receiving the reinstatement order from Johannesburg Water. This gives us assurance that Johannesburg Water has completed their part of the work and will not need to reopen the damaged section after we have repaired it.”

City Power also confirmed the damage of the streetlight cable during the excavation. General manager for public relations and communication Isaac Mangena said city was notified of the damage on June 27, and technicians responded by isolating the cable to eliminate any electrical risk before allowing repair work to continue. “We can confirm that all streetlights along Westway [Road] are currently operational.

Upon being notified, City Power technicians responded by isolating the affected cable to ensure the area was electrically safe, allowing the water repair work to continue without posing a risk to workers or members of the public.”

Mangena said City Power works closely with Johannesburg Water during emergency repairs to minimise damage to electrical infrastructure, protect workers and residents, and restore services as quickly as possible.

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