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EDITOR: HEILIE COMBRINCK
DESPATCH
Water leaks worst ever HEILIE COMBRINCK
I
KRUIS STREET, DALEVIEW
ACKERMAN STREET
n this drought, if there is a green spot on a verge, the chances are fairly good that it will be a water leak.
Nelson Mandela Bay is experiencing the worst drought ever and drinking water supplies are running out fast. In the midst of this crisis, the Metro’s crumbling infrastructure adds to the crisis with almost half of its water produced being lost through water leaks. A mid-term municipal report for the 2017/ 18 financial year showed that the Metro lost 45% of its water supply in the five months up to November 2017. The situation regarding water leaks is the same across the Metropole. Residents from Despatch are desperate, as to them it seems that their efforts in reporting water leaks are ignored. Many of the leaks have been reported as far back as 2016 and have not been repaired. Theo Senekal, Chairperson of Ward 52 in Despatch said, “Maintenance was not one of the key priorities of the previous municipal governance. Now we are sitting with an enormous problem. “It seems to me that there definitely also is some kind of go-slow or ignorance when it comes to the repairing of water leaks. “I have been a resident of Despatch for the past 43 years, and have never experienced so many water problems. Last Monday I reported 17 water leaks in Despatch. I can assure you, contractors are operating all over town to try to solve problems, but it seems that water pipes keep on bursting and these are the main priority repairs.” In Kruis Street, Daleview, which is part of Ward 41, one of the residents, Jan Afrikaner, said he definitely had enough of reporting water leaks and blocked storm water drains. “Look at this water leak in Kruis Street which was reported two years ago. I tell you these are thousands of litres, if not millions of litres of water that the municipality loses daily. “It breaks my heart to see the drought on the one side and on the other side seeing this water running into the drain,” said Afrikaner. (ALSO SEE REPORT ON p.2)
=Water running down Kruis Street in Dale view. PHOTOS: HEILIE COMBRINCK
=Jan Afrikaner showing the water running down Kruis Street for the past two years.
=Andries Delport at a water leak in Ackerman Street, which was reported two years ago.
BREË STREET
=A book list of water problems in Despatch reported daily at the Ward 52 office.
=Water leak reported two years ago at the corner of Breë and Murray Streets.
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