Region 6 buckling under growing service delivery backlog
The metro’s struggles to keep up with service requests has sparked frustration among residents and raised concerns about its ability to respond effectively.
The service delivery crisis in Region 6 continues to worsen as the Tshwane metro faces an overwhelming number of service requests.
Region 6 includes most suburbs in Pretoria east, part of the Moot and Mamelodi.
The metro has acknowledged that these requests exceed its operational capacity.
The growing demand for repair of leaks has resulted in significant backlogs and mounting frustration among residents.
Residents have raised concerns over the metro’s sluggish response, pointing to delayed turnaround times and a large volume of unresolved service issues.
According to residents, the ongoing backlog indicates that municipal technicians are either overstretched or insufficiently resourced, leading to critical breakdowns in the delivery of basic services.
Residents claimed that the situation on the ground has reached alarming levels, with recurring complaints of excessive water wastage, health risks stemming from overflowing sewage, and damage to properties due to leaks that remain unattended for extended periods.
Recent statistics shared with Rekord highlight the depth of the crisis, showing minimal progress in resolving longstanding infrastructure issues such as water leaks and sewer blockages in the region.
Residents are now calling for urgent intervention, improved resource allocation, and greater accountability to ensure that essential services are restored and maintained efficiently.
The statistics supplied for Region 6 on July 30 show:
Water leaks
– Previous outstanding: 881
– Attended to: 37
– New reported: 43
– Current outstanding: 878
Meter leaks
– Previous outstanding: 607
– Attended to: 14
– New reported: 3
– Current outstanding: 535
Sewer blockages
– Previous outstanding: 159
– Attended to: 24
– New received: 4
– Current outstanding: 151.
Ward 41 councillor Ben Chapman said these statistics proves that there’s a clear backlog in the region.
“I’m not trying to sensationalise or create panic, these stats are cold, hard facts, the numbers speak for themselves. The system is not coping,” Chapman said.
He said these are not opinions or exaggerations. “This is real, this is ongoing, and this is unsustainable.
“The stats show what’s really happening on the ground.”
Ward 85 councillor Jacqui Uys also said the repair of water leaks and sewage in her ward is incredibly delayed.
“One property in Bateleur Bastion has been without water for more than three weeks due to a leaking water meter, even if it has been reported and escalated,” Uys said.
She said new underground leaks are sprouting daily. “Ward 85 now has 18 such leaks and they are not being attended to.
“The two leaks in Stellenberg Avenue dates back to last year September. We’re almost approaching September again and [it’s] still not prioritised.”
Uys said an office block in Die Wilgers has a main reservoir pipe through the property that has been leaking since late 2024, and it is not being attended to either.
“The regional teams are not capacitated with human and other resources and work cannot be done,” she explained.
She said the city needs to put ratepayers first and have proper management checks in place to manage service requests.
Metro spokesperson Selby Bokaba said the city does not agree that there is poor service delivery in Region 6.
“Instead, the region is receiving a high volume of service requests due to aged infrastructure and vandalism resulting in backlogs and delayed response time.”
According to Bokaba, the city is not under-reporting any reported service requests. “The number of new water meter leak cases reported were derived from the system.
“The high backlogs are as a result of aged infrastructure and vandalism on the water network system.”
He said Region 6 has nine water and sanitation teams which are adequately resourced.
“Sewerage is a health hazard and the city prioritises all sewer blockages. There has been an improvement on sewer blockages from the beginning of July which was [standing] at 456. Currently, the backlog is at 131,” Bokaba said.
He said the city has a backlog reduction plan in place, and hence, the numbers have gone down.
“The city has a plan to prevent further system collapse and parallel to that, the city has a plan to attend to all the faults and backlogs.”
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