Family belongings water damaged
The family of a home in Manasse Street in Mountain View, Mhluzi, whose house and belongings were damaged during a municipal pipe burst are furious at the Steve Tshwete Municipality's "inadequate response" to their crisis.
Ms Lettie Letsoalo said that it was the second time in two years that they have been forced to lodge a claim against the municipality because of water damage due to a burst pipe.
“The first time was in 2014 and we are still waiting to receive any form of compensation from the municipality,” she said. “Many residents in the area have a claim against the municipality as it’s a regular occurrence”.
The latest incident occurred during the early hours of Friday, 8 April.
“My husband woke up at about 03:00 and heard a gushing sound, like a waterfall. We then discovered our entire yard was flooded and water was flowing into the house. The pipe had burst again”.
Ms Letsoalo said that her neighbours immediately contacted the municipality and asked them to turn off the water.
“We contacted them twice but they failed to respond in time and only arrived at 05:30. By that time my entire house was flooded with water and we suffered a lot of damages. Who’s going to pay for all of this? ” she asked.
Ms Letsoalo said that she was angry at the way she was treated by the municipal manager, Mr Mandla Mnguni.
“We were told to take photographs and compile a report to personally present to the municipal manager. We did exactly that. But when we visited the municipal manager we were told that we have to make an appointment,” Ms Letsoalo said.
They were eventually assisted by the secretary of the municipal manager and Ms Letsoalo confirmed that the claim was processed on Monday morning.
“This has happened before so we are not getting our hopes up. We are still waiting for compensation following our first claim back in 2014, so we don’t know if this claim will ever be paid out. We have really lost a lot”.
When contacted, Municipal Manager Mr Mandla Mnguni told the Middelburg Observer that all claims are submitted to the municipality’s insurance company who are responsible for such claims.
“We cannot determine whether the claimant gets paid out or not. That’s up to the insurance company who investigate the matter and thereafter make a decision. We understand that it’s been difficult for the family as it’s a very unfortunate situation, from our side we have submitted all relevant documents to the insurance company and we’ve assisted where we can,” Mr Mnguni said.
“And I was never rude to the lady. I was in between meetings when Ms Letsoalo came to the office and she insisted to see me. I explained to her that she must make an appointment to see me as I had other commitments at the time. However, I still made sure she was assisted by my secretary”.
Mr Mnguni said that the municipality would investigate why it took so long for municipal workers to respond to the call out when it was first reported at 03:00.
“All calls are recorded and we will look into the matter,” he said.
