While parts of the city face water shortages and Parktown West residents protest for access, thousands of litres of clean water have been spilling unchecked from a deep excavation at Rothesay and Jan Smuts avenues in Craighall Park since February 24, raising serious concerns about oversight and response times.”
This follows Johannesburg Water’s (JW) attempts last December to excavate multiple sections of the road in search of a longstanding leak, while also engaging City Power to explore isolating underground cables so that repairs could proceed.
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Ward 90 councillor, Renate van Onselen, expressed her concern about the lack of urgency shown by JW. “The excavation has caused problems for tenants and businesses along Jan Smuts, which have seen flooding in their buildings.
This is unacceptable, and I am completely incensed by this lack of care and attention being given to this excavation.”
A caretaker at Couch & Co who did not want to be named said the water from the gushing excavation seeped into the business’s basement, damaging their stock.
During a follow-up visit to the excavation on February 26, the site remained flooded, with thousands of litres of clean water still pouring into the excavation, a stark illustration of ongoing waste amid Johannesburg’s deepening infrastructure crisis.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena, on February 16, confirmed that officials, including engineers, conducted a site visit on February 13, where they met members from JW to assess the situation.
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“It was established that there was no need to isolate the electricity supply, as initially requested by Johannesburg Water, as the exact location of the leak had already been identified during the previous excavation work,” he said.
“Based on this outcome, responsibility for further updates and progress on repairs now rests with Johannesburg Water, as the matter does not require any direct intervention from City Power at this stage.”
The publication reached out to JW from February 23 to 27. The water utility spokesperson, Nolwazi Dhlamini, said they were still waiting for a response from their depot.
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