Local businesses flooded; muni responds only 24 hours later
Business owners in Blaauwberg Street, Ladanna say they are not shocked or surprised that it took the municipality 24 hours to respond to a water leak in the area, which was reported last Wednesday.
POLOKWANE – Business owners in Blaauwberg Street, Ladanna say they are not shocked or surprised that it took the municipality 24 hours to respond to a water leak in the area, which was reported last Wednesday.
Review visited the site and discovered that a part of the street was flooded so bad that motorists drove on the wrong side of the road to avoid potholes.
On site, the journalist tried to find the source of the water leak, but could not. The water streamed like a river from an open veld in Blaauwberg Street. The water seemingly came from a burst pipe in a building across the road, but the journalist could not cross the veld to get to the building, as the water was so much it formed a small dam, which was the reason the water streamed like a river over the veld into Blaauwberg Street.
Maybeline Gangat from RGR Services said she reported the problem to the municipality at 07:15 on Wednesday morning.
“Our business is opposite the veld, and there was so much water that it flooded our entrance and parking area.
“I called the municipality on (015) 290 2376 and explained what had happened, I even gave directions, in detail, to the operator on how to get to Blaauwberg Street. But they never came. At about 09:15, my boss called, and again the operator said they would send someone.
“But by 13:00, the municipality still had not arrived, and when I called again, they said they would send someone. I got so frustrated, I called Review to help,” Gangat said.
She confirmed that the municipality came to repair the leak at about 07:30 on Thursday morning.
Gangat is disgusted with the municipality and their poor service delivery.
“The municipality’s delay in fixing the problem cost us a lot of business on Wednesday. Because our entrance and parking area were flooded, clients could not park their vehicles and left. This is unacceptable and the municipality must seriously start improving their services, because right now it is pathetic,” Gangat said.
The Polokwane Municipality had not given comment by the time of going to print.
