Criminals force desperate Randburg residents to pay for city water
The ward councillor says water trucks have since been redirected to places where people are not being extorted
22 August 2024 - 09:04
byShonisani Tshikalange
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Water is poured from a water tanker into a bucket in this file photo. Picture: LEFTY SHIVAMBU/GALLO IMAGES
Johannesburg Water says its team is experiencing problems as it starts repairs in parts of Randburg, due to the huge volume of water that is still coming out of the pipelines people must work on.
The water utility gave an update on Wednesday regarding the repairs to the 600mm steel pipe in Ferndale, which has left several areas in Randburg without water.
The utility said that although the team was working to resolve the problem, it was not possible to begin repairs until the water in the pipelines has drained completely.
According to Johannesburg Water on Wednesday morning, team members were walking along the pipes and manually shutting off water.
The affected areas include parts of Winsor, Ferndale, Strjidom Park, Kensington B, parts of Randburg, parts of Bryanston, Moret, parts of Blairgowrie and Bordeaux.
“There is now no estimated time for completion. Further details will be provided as they become available. Johannesburg Water will continue to provide an alternative water supply,” it said.
Some opportunistic people have been quick to exploit the situation and have been selling water taken from the city's tankers to desperate residents.
Ward 102 councillor Lucinda Harman said, “Yesterday I alerted Johannesburg Water about this. The problem started at Bram Fischer and Randburg, where I was told that people were prevented from getting water from the water trucks and money was being demanded from them. Randburg taxi rank was one place that came up, and the other places were garages,” she said.
“I still don't know who has been charging the money. All I got was an alert yesterday.”
Harman said they didn't know how much was being demanded for the water. She said the trucks had since been redirected to places where people were not being forced to pay.
“Vulnerable people were being preyed on,” she said.
In a separate notice, Johannesburg Water warned residents about further water outages.
The water utility said Ferndale extensions 6, 15 and 20 would be affected by a planned maintenance from next Tuesday.
According to Johannesburg Water, there will not be any water for 10 hours from 8am to 6pm as they tie in the new pipe.
It said region C, covering Wilgeheuwel, will also have planned maintenance on September 3 from 8am to 4pm and there will be no water in that eight hours as they tie in Nepal Pune.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Criminals force desperate Randburg residents to pay for city water
The ward councillor says water trucks have since been redirected to places where people are not being extorted
Johannesburg Water says its team is experiencing problems as it starts repairs in parts of Randburg, due to the huge volume of water that is still coming out of the pipelines people must work on.
The water utility gave an update on Wednesday regarding the repairs to the 600mm steel pipe in Ferndale, which has left several areas in Randburg without water.
The utility said that although the team was working to resolve the problem, it was not possible to begin repairs until the water in the pipelines has drained completely.
According to Johannesburg Water on Wednesday morning, team members were walking along the pipes and manually shutting off water.
The affected areas include parts of Winsor, Ferndale, Strjidom Park, Kensington B, parts of Randburg, parts of Bryanston, Moret, parts of Blairgowrie and Bordeaux.
“There is now no estimated time for completion. Further details will be provided as they become available. Johannesburg Water will continue to provide an alternative water supply,” it said.
Some opportunistic people have been quick to exploit the situation and have been selling water taken from the city's tankers to desperate residents.
Ward 102 councillor Lucinda Harman said, “Yesterday I alerted Johannesburg Water about this. The problem started at Bram Fischer and Randburg, where I was told that people were prevented from getting water from the water trucks and money was being demanded from them. Randburg taxi rank was one place that came up, and the other places were garages,” she said.
“I still don't know who has been charging the money. All I got was an alert yesterday.”
Harman said they didn't know how much was being demanded for the water. She said the trucks had since been redirected to places where people were not being forced to pay.
“Vulnerable people were being preyed on,” she said.
In a separate notice, Johannesburg Water warned residents about further water outages.
The water utility said Ferndale extensions 6, 15 and 20 would be affected by a planned maintenance from next Tuesday.
According to Johannesburg Water, there will not be any water for 10 hours from 8am to 6pm as they tie in the new pipe.
It said region C, covering Wilgeheuwel, will also have planned maintenance on September 3 from 8am to 4pm and there will be no water in that eight hours as they tie in Nepal Pune.
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