A temporary repair by Johannesburg Water (JW) has stopped sewage flowing into the Strubenspruit from a damaged sewer pipe behind a church on Florin Road.

The problem was identified by resident Armand van der Merwe during an inspection of the river and surrounding sewer infrastructure on August 17.

Van der Merwe said he was walking alongside the river when he noticed sewage flowing into the stream.

“I walked next to the river upstream until I got to a point where a large amount of sewage was pumping into the river,” he said.

According to Van der Merwe, the pipe was about 400m from the area where he had initially been investigating and ran from a drain or manhole towards the river.

He said an earlier attempt had been made to reconnect the line using a PVC pipe, but the repair failed and the pipe eventually ended up in the river.

Steel pipe found during follow-up inspection

During another inspection on August 26, Van der Merwe discovered a steel pipe at the same location. At the time, it was not known when the pipe had been installed or who had carried out the work.

JW Hamberg depot manager Kobus Beukes has since confirmed that JW teams were involved in an urgent temporary repair at the site to prevent further sewage spillage.

JW said the steel pipe had actually been installed on August 13, before Van der Merwe’s August 26 inspection. Because the steel pipe was not long enough, a short section of PVC pipe was also used.

The utility said the temporary pipe was inspected and found to be fully functional, although further work is still required to ensure its stability.

Beukes confirmed that the repair had stopped the sewage discharge at that particular point.

The Roodepoort Northsider also sent JW an email enquiry on September 2, asking whether the utility had records of service requests, inspections, blockages, call-outs or jetting work relating to the location.

JW responded: “Internal inspections from Line Managers.”

Wider river pollution remains under investigation

While the Florin Road discharge has been stopped temporarily, concerns about pollution in the wider Strubenspruit river system remain.

Residents downstream along Cypress Road have reported a foul smell and greenish water. Resident Angie Pipi has previously said the smell affects her health and keeps her awake at night.

The Northsider first reported on the polluted river in early July, when Langutani Chauke, JW’s Randburg/ Roodepoort regional manager, confirmed that a damaged sewer pipeline was responsible for sewage pollution affecting the watercourse.

JW said the pipeline had been damaged by flooding and riverbed scour in 2024.

That pipeline is located on Sjampanje Street and is separate from the damaged pipe behind the church on Florin Road.

In response to a Northsider enquiry sent on August 5, Chauke confirmed on August 6 that the Sjampanje Street pipeline had been repaired on July 25 as an interim measure.

The two locations therefore involve separate sewer infrastructure.

While JW has confirmed that its temporary repair stopped the sewage discharge at the Florin Road site, the source of the sewage contributing to the wider pollution affecting the river system remains under investigation.