Maxhaven Retirement Village residents in Cresta are frustrated with Johannesburg Water after facing several water outages and having to deal with damaged infrastructure. The elderly residents of the village have raised concerns about their safety.
Approximately a year ago, Johannesburg Water undertook repairs on a pipeline outside the retirement village. However, the aftermath of the repairs has left the area in a dire state. Debris litters the surroundings, with the road filled with holes and damaged manholes. This has created a risk to pedestrians, specifically the elderly residents who often walk along the road to visit the shopping centre opposite the village.
Ward 98 councillor Beverly Jacobs expressed deep concern over the situation. “The safety and wellbeing of our elderly residents is important, and the current state of the infrastructure in this area is unacceptable. We have been reporting the pavement and other reinstatements on this road for a very long time. It’s a huge safety risk.”
Jacobs called for immediate action to fix the damaged pavement and road. “We cannot afford to ignore these problems. It is important that Johannesburg Water addresses these issues to prevent any harm to the elderly that live in the village,” she added.
Lindiwe Ndlovu, a worker at the retirement village, expressed her worry for the residents’ safety. “We don’t have water a lot. It is a challenge for us because the elderly are vulnerable and need to have water. Johannesburg Water comes and they just fix the water. They do not fix the holes that they make. They just leave them like that.”
Ndlovu says that the damage to the road has become a big safety concern. “Some of our residents can walk and they sometimes walk to the shopping centre nearby. It is dangerous for them to walk there now because of the condition of the road and the pavement. They could get injured.”
“It looks very ugly outside our village now and how will people be comfortable staying here or leaving their loved ones here when Johannesburg Water has left it looking like this?”
In response to complaints, the spokesperson for Johannesburg Water, Nombuso Shabalala, explained that the entity is aware of the issues at Maxhaven. “Following the repairs that were conducted, a job card was logged for the reinstatement. The damaged pavement will be repaired once all the relevant material has been procured by the depot, and a team becomes available.”
Shabalala noted that the entity has a backlog of reinstatement jobs. “Because work is scheduled according to capacity, some reinstatement jobs may take longer to complete. Johannesburg Water is facing a huge backlog around the city, which we are working around the clock with both internal teams and service providers to complete.”
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