Residents of Extension 5 have had some difficulties with their water supply over the past month. On three separate occasions they have been left without water in their pipes, sometimes for up to 12 hours at a time.
Mr Richmond Jele, spokesman for Sembcorp Silulumanzi, says it was due to a burst pipe on the corner of Gazelle and Ehmke streets.
“The area in question has old asbestos pipes that are being replaced as part of an annual budget to replace old water pipelines. These old pipelines are very vulnerable to high water pressure and may therefore burst from time to time.”
The recurring bursting has led to speculation that the pipe was deliberately not being repaired properly in order for technicians to claim overtime for fixing it when it breaks, but this was strongly refuted by Jele.
“Our 24-hour control room use sophisticated job-tracking systems which eliminate this unfounded suspicion.” He requested residents to kindly bear with Sembcorp as the problem is being attended to, “albeit at a pace that might not change the status quo overnight”.
