Hope flows for Joburg

A lifetime ago, in a newsroom far away, a journalist colleague said they did not like watching M-Net’s Carte Blanche because it was so depressing.

“Yeah, wrist-slitting stuff,” said another.

This week’s Carte Blanche segment on Joburg Water’s woes at various excavations in Randburg was an example.

Despite some jocularity, word play and gimmicks with props such as a snorkel and goggles, fishing rods and swimming tubes, it was ultimately a tale of despair.

We were left with the impression that several gaping, water-filled holes would never be fixed. A hopeless situation.

This gloom was later compounded during discussions among councillors. Colleagues said Joburg’s water and sewer infrastructure has passed its tipping point.

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Joburg Water “cannot keep up with repairing all the bursts and blockages due to old, failing infrastructure.

“Soon, certain areas/suburbs will be unliveable as water and sewer pipes disintegrate.”

Indeed, 3 000km of Joburg Water’s network is brittle, old asbestos concrete piping which cracks and crumbles when disturbed by dramatic pressure changes.

Frequent emergency shutdowns can cause problems because pressure fluctuates so much.

You get the drift. Things can only get worse, some say, evoking the inscription on Dante’s Gates of Hell: “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”

I paid attention because a serious Joburg Water excavation was unfolding at the corner of Winnie Mandela Drive and Argyle Avenue, Hurlingham, in my ward.

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Oh, hell. By Monday it had reached dimensions worthy of a scuba expedition.

And, with Joburg Water unable to stem the flow by shutting nearby valves, their operators closed Illovo reservoir and tower outlets, leaving at least 15 suburbs in three wards high and dry.

This felt like what Hamlet might have called the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

Arriving on site at the busy Winnie Mandela intersection during late afternoon peak traffic was chaotic and the main hole was still full of water.

Yet, there was positive energy and a can-do attitude among the Joburg Water people. They were well aware of the previous evening’s negative Carte Blanche coverage, which was being discussed, but they were up to the challenge.

The sun had barely set when most of the water had been pumped out and a contractor was measuring up, checking exactly what material was needed.

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Things were happening. There was a buzz.

Such energy can be constructively harnessed and directed to help ensure things get done. As regular readers know by now, councillors are not allowed to give, or purport to give, any instructions to officials, or interfere in any way with the administration.

So we can’t boss people around, even if we wanted to. Instead, it’s helpful to heed Dale Carnegie’s dictum when onsite: “Don’t criticise, condemn or complain.”

With that approach, I intend to help ensure this leak and excavation are resolved as soon as possible.

This cannot be another year-old “Kenny se gat” – named after a former transport MMC – or any of the other overdue reinstatements that blight our cityscape.

If you add up all the initiatives and people right now trying to help fix Joburg, there is a sense of momentum.

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And hope.

Despair and despondency help no-one.