Albertina Sisulu and 8th Ave: an accident waiting to happen

At Albertina Sisulu Road and 8th Avenue, there is a serious accident just waiting to happen.

At the insistence of Florida South Residents Association chairperson Rodney Churchyard, the Roodepoort Record set out to investigate the cause of all the fuss.

According to Churchyard, it all started when Johannesburg Water (JW) contractors arrived to mend a water pipe that runs under the western direction lane of the road, after residents complained of a water leak in the street.

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“They dug into the road surface to expose the pipe and conducted a repair,” he says. “The problem is, they never closed the trench, and to make matters worse, the pipe sprang a new leak a day or two later, and continues to leak water into the street.”

During the Record’s short visit to the site, at least four close calls took place, with motorists not seeing the trench due to the shadow of a tree being casted over the trench.

“Traffic on this stretch of road is relatively heavy and fast-moving,” says Churchyard. “There has already been one serious accident, with a delivery motorcycle driver not seeing the trench in time to avoid it.”

He adds that numerous tickets have been opened by residents with both JW and the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA).

“JRA understandably cannot repair the road because the pipe is still leaking. JW closes all the tickets, marking the job as complete. In the meantime, this highly dangerous situation is simply ignored.”

The Record approached JW communications officer Nolwazi Dhlamini regarding the ongoing water leakage.

Despite numerous follow-ups with JW, no answers have been forthcoming by the time of publication.