Johannesburg Water finally fixes the leak at Ferndale Valley Arboretum
Emi Koekemoer, Ward 104 councillor, is concerned by the amount of water wasted by the two-year water leak, and demands an explanation as to why it took so long to fix.
Emi Koekemoer, Ward 104 councillor, has confirmed that Johannesburg Water (JW) has attended to and fixed the two-year water leak at Ferndale Valley Arboretum.
“The burst in the arboretum was eventually fixed on November 27, after gushing water for two years. It took three months of continuous escalations, raising the issue in meetings with the entity and the Environment and Infrastructure Services Department (EISD) committee to have it repaired.”
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The pipe burst was next to the fence inside the arboretum, and fresh water was pouring down to the river. The leak goes all the way back to the beginning of January 2023 when it was first reported.
Bronweyn Craig, member of the Bryanfern Residents Association, who cleans the green belt, confirmed that the leak was first reported, and escalated, in 2023, and during a community walk, on September 3, it was found to still be running, and reported it again.
Koekemoer explained that the leak was bad. “It was thousands of litres per day. Under current strain of water shortages and an infrastructure crisis, a leak of this magnitude ought to be attended to within 24 hours of the first report. We cannot afford water wastage like this.”
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She added that the entity needs to take the infrastructure crisis seriously and deal with it decisively.
“Further to that, the current executive of the city should account for their part in allowing an once peak performing entity to regress to this state. We have said it for years that Rand Water is the next Eskom, and JW is the next City Power, if nothing is done about it.”
Koekemoer said she appreciates the leak having been dealt with, however, for the sake of transparency, she wants a full report from JW management on why a leak of this magnitude was left this long.
“Who will be held accountable, and what will be done to identify further infrastructural risks along our green belts?”
The entity was sent questions about the cause of the burst, and why it took this long to attend and fix. However, they did not reply by the time of print. Their reply will be published once made available.
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