As water is becoming more of a scarce commodity, citizens are looking towards government and its institutions to lead the way when it comes to the conservation of this valuable life source.
On August 24 last year, Mbombela’s Local Municipality urged citizens to reduce their water consumption.
Amid the crisis, government institutions must rely on the Department of Public Works (DWP) to maintain the infrastructure of their buildings. This includes their sewerage and water provision. If a police station or court’s water pipe bursts, this must be reported to the department.
The government institution in question may not proceed to fix it themselves, but must wait for the DPW to orchestrate a solution.
Nelspruit Post photographed a water leak at the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court on Friday afternoon.
The Department of Justice’s regional manager, Mr Desmond Mhlanga, was approached for comment on Monday. He referred the newspaper to the court manager’s office.
At time of going to print, the latter was in a meeting and unable to answer the newspaper’s telephone call. A reliable source confirmed having reported the water leak on Wednesday of last week.
“I reported it to the Department of Public Works and someone was assigned to fix it. The reparation of the underground pipe that had burst and caused the leak, started on Monday,” he confirmed yesterday.
The man added that he was unable to restrict the burst pipe’s water flow between reporting the matter and the arrival of the plumbers assigned by the department.
“Public Works also has discretion over that. Also, I am not aware of where and how to do that,” he said.
Nelspruit Post called the office of provincial spokesman, Mr David Nkambuhle, but he could not be reached. His colleague, Mr Rodney Madalane, said that the matter was not the responsibility of the provincial department but that of the National Department of Public Works.
Spokesman, Mr Thami Mchunu, was in a meeting and did not take the newspaper’s call.
Today, it was clear that the leak had been fixed:
Residents are advised to promptly report all water leaks to Sembcorp Silulumanzi on 086-174-5858.
