Burst pipe on Waterkant Road adds to ‘week from hell’
Burst pipes have plagued Durban North over the past few days. One of these incidents was in Waterkant Road which affected a large portion of the area.
A BURST water pipe along Waterkant Road in Durban North on Thursday morning added to what has been described as a “week of hell” for residents and businesses in Ward 36.
Also read: Burst pipes cause catastrophe in Durban North
The pipe failure was one of 12 reported in the area last week, disrupting water supply to not only Waterkant Road but also Prospect Hall Road, Soofie Saheb Drive, and areas extending to the Riverside Hotel.
“It’s a critical line. Hotels, businesses, shopping centres, places of worship, and hundreds of residents have been affected. This kind of disruption is simply untenable,” said local ward councillor Heinz de Boer.
Although Thursday’s burst was repaired the same day, it highlighted long-standing concerns over Durban’s ageing water infrastructure and the drawn-out pipeline replacement project that began in 2022.
The Waterkant Road pipeline upgrade now almost in its fourth year, is reportedly 99% complete, but De Boer said it had been plagued by delays, including a change of contractors, budget issues, and a four-month shortage of bitumen, which halted road resurfacing.
“The pipe that burst last week was never replaced during the project. I have no idea why. It has now been replaced with a link of about 10m, but this again shows that patching up old infrastructure is not a solution. These pipes need replacing fully and properly.”
De Boer also warned that the pressure from main supply lines, once reconnected after repairs, often causes further bursts in surrounding areas — something that has caused chaos across Ward 36 in the past week.
“Thankfully, Waterkant didn’t suffer more bursts after the repair, but elsewhere it’s been a nightmare. We’re waiting for engineers to come back with a long-term solution,” he said.
Despite being nearly finished, the Waterkant Road pipeline replacement still lacks a firm completion date, and for residents and businesses alike, patience is running thin.
The City did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publishing.
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