By the looks of the site on Isando Road where the metro has been repairing a main water pipeline since Tuesday, Kemptonians might face another night or even longer without water.
At the same time Bonaero Park has also been without water for days as a result of separate pipe bursts in the suburb.
While residents are suffering, the City of Ekurhuleni made no attempt to give clear answers as to what is happening, bar a few tweets and short Facebook posts saying they are restoring water. Various given deadlines were also missed due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Areas affected by the pipe burst in Isando are Isando, Spartan, Cresslawn, Kempton Park CBD and extensions, Aston Manor, Allen Grove, Nimrod Park, Glen Marais, part of Pomona and Bredell.
Ward councillor Simon Lapping visited the Isando site on Friday afternoon. According to him contractors now have to deal with two separate bursts close to one another. Another large bypass pipe that is supposed to temporarily feed Bonaero Park and other Kempton suburbs, has now also burst.
“This is poor workmanship, as contractors worked in the same place a year ago. It is where TC Frankenberg died after hitting a sand bank in the road with his motorbike in December.
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Lapping says there is a possibility that more shutdowns could occur which could affect larger parts of Kempton Park.
Ald André du Plessis, ward councillor for Bonaero Park and also DA shadow MMC for environmental development and waste management, on Friday said Bonaero Park residents were in their fourth day without water and getting more and more frustrated as the metro kept missing restoration deadlines.
Du Plessis told Express another pipe burst after the maintenance in Isando.
“When the valves were reopened a pipe on Daeraad Street in Bonaero Park burst on Wednesday and the valves had to be closed again. That, however, can’t be the reason why there is still no water, because the pipe in Bonaero Park was repaired on Thursday already. The metro has missed five deadlines in three days which is unacceptable,” he said.
“This has left us as councillors and the residents with great frustration because the engineers would give us a deadline which we communicate to residents, but when the deadline is not honoured, there is no further communication.”
Express also received numerous complaints from concerned residents regarding the matter.
“It is unacceptable that there has been no official communication or statement from the mayor or MMC for water and sanitation about the matter.
“We appeal to the city manager, Dr Imogen Mashazi, and the Ekurhuleni executive mayor, Mzwandile Masina, to intervene and ensure positive truthful communication takes place regularly with councillors and the community.”
The last tweets sent out by the City of Ekurhuleni regarding the water outage:
#Water #Kemptonpark - Plumbers are attending to a leak on the main supply pipe, areas affected Spartan, Cresslawn, Kempton Park CBD, Aston Manor, Allen Grove, Nimrod Park, Glen Marais, Bonaero Park and Part of Pomona and Bredel.
— CoE_Call_Centre (@CoE_Call_Centre) November 15, 2019
#CoEwaterAlert - Kempton Park
— CITY OF EKURHULENI (@City_Ekurhuleni) November 14, 2019
The water supply interruption affecting Pomona and Bonaero Park is due to a major burst water pipe. A team is on site attending to it. Estimated water restoration time is 18:00 this evening. pic.twitter.com/ugSLM7xSyh
“It is residents’ constitutional right to have access to water and there aren’t even enough water tankers to cater for the entire area affected by this. We have schools, old age homes, complexes and more and the water tankers are not enough. I had to ask for a water tanker to be sent to Bonaero Park Primary School because we have small children there and it has become a big hygienic problem.”
