Johannesburg Water fixes the 2-year-old water leak in Kya Sand Business Park
Johannesburg Water has confirmed that they have attended to, and fixed, the leak at the Kya Sand Business Park pedestrian walkway. Residents of the business park are happy that the work has been done, but aren't happy that it took two years, and a newspaper story, to get there.
Nombuso Shabalala, spokesperson for Johannesburg Water, has confirmed that they have attended to and fixed the water leak that recently marked its second anniversary at the Kya Sand Business Park pedestrian walkway.
A banner, with writing saying: ‘Happy 2nd anniversary. This leak has now been running for 24 months courtesy of Johannesburg Water’, was installed on site, including all 15 reference numbers they received over the years.
Asked why this issue has not been sorted for this long, she explained that their team was initially not able to repair the leak as there were other things obstructing them from conduct the repairs. The team then engaged with the owner of the property to find a way forward, before they could commence with the repairs.
“Johannesburg Water’s team conducted an investigation into the matter, they attended, and the leak is now repaired.”
Shabalala explained that the standard response time for attending to burst and leaking water pipes is 48 hours, and for a leaking meter it is three days. However, these response times can fluctuate and be delayed according to the nature and magnitude of the work that needs to be done, the machinery needed, the human labour needed, as well as weather conditions, repair work can’t be done under rainy and wet weather conditions.
“For example, the process of repairing includes the response team initiating an investigation into the issue, isolating the water supply, and excavating to expose the damaged pipe.
In this case, there was an obstruction to the work site, which required engaging with the property owners before Johannesburg Water could begin with repairs.”
She added that the entity acknowledges the fact that the leak has been there for quite some time, and it has been an inconvenience for the property owners. However, they continue to try their best to resolve service delivery issues as timeously as they can, with the resources they have.
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According to Karsten Wodrich, of Techmatic Holdings, at the business park, the leak was first logged in October 2022. They received a request to remove the turnstile, pavement, and trees in the leak area in June 2023, which was subsequently done, but there was still no action from the entity until recently.
In frustration, without any action, and with the leak becoming more severe, affecting the water pressure in the business park, they even deployed their own plumbing team. They excavated the leak areas and sleeved the pipes to try and meet the entity halfway.
Wodrich confirmed that the leak has been fixed and they have normal water pressure at the business park again.
“The work was done and the leak fixed – just one massive disappointment that it has taken two years and countless hours of wasted time by all parties trying to get this resolved. Disappointing that there seems to be no one that actually takes ownership of the issue and ensures these leaks are fixed in a timeous manner and makes sure that the backfilling and restoration is done properly, soon after the leak is fixed.”
He added that if it had not been for the social media and media attention, he doesn’t think this would have been resolved. “Sad that this is the extent one has to go to get things done. They should technically be remediating the pedestrian walkway, but we know it’s not going to happen – so the business park will end up footing the bill for that.”
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