No sign of JW as the water keeps gushing out on Kelly Avenue
Ward 134 councillor Devon Steenkamp uses creative ways to get Johannesburg Waters attention after he was ignored.
In an effort to get Johannesburg Water’s (JW) attention, Ward 134 councillor Devon Steenkamp went fishing in an unattended major water leak on Kelly Avenue in Boskruin, which was reported at the beginning of the year.
Water is gushing out from the underground pipe and has created a pond next to a house’s fence. Resident Andrew Usher became aware of the issue at the beginning of 2024 and tried the call centre on numerous occasions without any response.
Usher explained that he has since sent around 16 emails from May, which included a video and a pin drop of the location, but only received two reference numbers.
Steenkamp further escalated the issue in October, but still nothing has been done to fix the leak. He did receive a call from a JW official to help them locate the leak, but they were unable to meet.
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He said that he was hoping the entity would respond to the leak, but they have confirmed to him that they still cannot find it. “I have asked them again to make arrangements so I can take them there, but there hasn’t been a response. I tried numerous emails, phone calls, and WhatsApp messages but no luck. It’s becoming increasingly frustrating.”
He added that he decided to be creative, and got his fishing rod out to show that JW has now changed their business model. They no longer attend to bursts and leaks, but rather use the clean water to create ponds and dams.
“This has created a lot of vegetation using clean water. It’s just so frustrating as we know that the entity is losing a lot of water from burst, leaks, and illegal connections. We have so many leaks and all due to incompetence of not fixing the infrastructure in the city.”
Nombuso Shabalala, spokesperson for JW, is aware of the leak and did conduct an investigation into the matter.
“The cause of the leak is ageing infrastructure. We have to source and procure the necessary materials needed to proceed with the repairs. The entity is committed to minimising water loss during repairs. We continue to explore more sustainable practices and technologies to reduce water loss and maximise resource efficiency in our operations.”
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