Benmore water leak drags into second week while parts of Johannesburg run dry
The ongoing water leak at Benmore Shopping Centre has sparked outrage, with Ward 103 councillor Lynda Shackelford warning that service backlogs and recent disruptions at Johannesburg Water are worsening the city’s water crisis.
Ward 103 councillor Lynda Shackelford is calling on Johannesburg Water (JW) to urgently address the water leak that has been ongoing for two weeks at Benmore Shopping Centre.
During a site visit with Sandton Chronicle on February 11, Shackelford said the leak initially believed to be from the shopping centre’s internal infrastructure, was later identified as originating from the municipal line after a team from the shopping centre dug up to see the source of the leak.
Read more: Update: Parkmore sinkhole woes persist as JRA points to water pipe leak
The shopping centre reported the matter to JW and Shackelford escalated under the reference number JWCC-40119901 two weeks back, and according to the councillor, till today JW team have never been seen on site.
“At present, we’ve got an ongoing water leak in one of the parking areas at Benmore Shopping Centre right near Grayston Drive and has been reported by residents, the shopping centre and myself.
“The shopping centre first thought it was their pipe until their team dug up and found that it’s a municipal pipe.”
@caxtonjoburgnorth Watch: Ward 103 councillor Lynda Shackelford stands next to the excavation during a site visit to the water leak that has been ongoing for two weeks at Benmore Shopping Centre, questioning how long Johannesburg Water will take to respond and calling for urgent action as service backlogs continue to grow. Video: Xoliswa Zakwe #Sandton #Ward103 ♬ original sound – Caxton Joburg North
Shackelford expressed frustration at what she describes as significant service backlogs within Johannesburg Water, particularly following outages linked to Rand Water supply issues and an unprotected strike that further disrupted operations.
Also read: After 10 years Parkmore residents are fed up with leak
“The problem is, how long is it going to take Johannesburg Water to get here? My biggest concern at the moment is JW getting back to catch up on all the outstanding issues from the last two to three weeks because they are very far behind with the bigger outages that we’ve had because of the Rand Water issues and the utility’s unprotected strike.
“So my questions to JW right now are, when are we going to get all these sorted? Is there a list of how we are going to do it? Have they come up with contingency plan? This is very concerning.”
She added that even what might appear to be a smaller infrastructure has huge consequences in a city grappling with water supply challenges.
“Even a small leak, and this one is not small, is a huge loss of water to the city, when other parts of the city does not have water,” she said.
The publication have reached out to JW for a comment, updates will be provided once they become available.
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