RESIDENTS in Entabeni Road in Paradise Valley are up in arms as they are engulfed with burst pipes which have led to continuous water outages and patch jobs. In an effort to replace the burst pipes, two big holes have been dug up in the road, which the Highway Mail went to see.

Following several incidents, the residents aired their frustration regarding the issue and how they have been affected – something they have been trying to tackle with their ward councillor Melanie Brauteseth.

Brauteseth said she has had the issue on her desk from the time she took office in 2016. “When I became a councillor in 2016, I had a community meeting about the water issues here, and I requested a water project that will see a replacement of the pipes. Such projects take time with all the work that goes into them. That project is still there – it has been there on my desk – and I have been pushing it,” she said.

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Explaining the cause of the burst pipes, Brauteseth said this could be attributed to the development of infrastructure in the area.
“This looks like an infrastructure issue – the pipes might not be able to handle the pressure with all the developments going on. The infrastructure is old, and it seems like it cannot keep up with the newly built complexes.

“Every time this happens, they switch off one of the main valves of the area, which would benefit the areas of Farningham Ridge and Paradise Valley. We have now discovered that the pipes on Christian Road were faulty,” she said.

Concerned resident Ian Grieve said they have been dealing with burst pipes for the better part of this year, which have involved patch jobs that have left huge holes in their road. These holes are next to the driveways of some houses.
“The burst pipes have been affecting the community of about 450 flats, estates and houses. So when the valve that is positioned everywhere is switched off, all these homes are affected. In January, we had a burst pipe where the water splashed in the air, creating a fountain-like shape, and we lost a tremendous amount of water,” he said.

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Another resident said they have reached their wits’ end. “This problem has been going on for years, and all it has been is patch-up jobs. A year and a half ago, this road was resurfaced. You should see what it looks like now. The amount of money that has been spent over the years doing these patch jobs could have laid down a new pipe and there would have been enough leftover money to re-tar the road. It’s time they get an engineer out here and have a look at the real problem and not send in plumbers all the time,” they said.

Brauteseth said that in her recent discussion with the City, they confirmed that the project is only a few moments away from happening.
“I escalated the matter on Tuesday morning, and they have clarified that the project is there and has been set for the 2023/4 budget that will be in effect in July. It is an in-house project – one of the delays for this project was a way leave, a certificate from Transnet because there is relaying work to be done across. However, the project is set to start without the certificate as it can be attained at a later stage,” she said.

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