Yet more complaints of poor service delivery by the ANC led Tshwane Council have been received by the Laudium Sun.
This time it is once again the poor workmanship by the Council teams responsible for repairing water leaks in the area. Many residents have, over the past few months, complained about Council workers not properly repairing leaking water pipes and blocked drains, resulting in the same pipes leaking or drains being blocked again after a few days of supposedly being repaired. Residents are now questioning where the supervisors of these repair teams are and who is checking on the supervisors.
In one of the latest complaints, residents of Erasmia’s Petrus Myburgh Street, complained about a water meter leaking again, just days after it was allegedly repaired. This followed the first leak taking place around May 2, after which residents complained to the Council multiple times and after a few days, the Council finally attended to the complaints and sent out a team to have the leak repaired. However, last Thursday (May 22), much to the shock of residents, water started leaking again from the same water meter, with residents clearly frustrated, as they believed that the water leak in the early part of the month had been fixed permanently. Residents in the area have now questioned as to where are the supervisors of the repair teams and whether the teams sent out to do repairs are qualified to do the job.
Hever Phiri of Petrus Myburgh Street and the caretaker of Bonito Complex, told the Laudium Sun, “The water leakage from the meter in front of our complex has been an ongoing problem for us. We have reported it to the Council office multiple times, but so far, we haven’t received any permanent solution. The current water leak has been going on since Thursday (May 22) and it is fresh water that we are losing a significant amount of. The
leak first occurred on May 2 and although the Council came to fix it a few days later, they did a very poor job. As a result, the water meter pipe burst again and the leakage resumed. People in this complex are running out of water and we are facing serious problems due to the shortage. The Council keeps returning to do temporary fixes, but the water starts leaking again the very next day. We don’t want poor service from the Council, we want a permanent solution so that the problem can be resolved once and for all.”
Petrus Myburgh Street resident, Yosuf Khota, told the Laudium Sun, “This is a serious problem we are facing very often, as people on our street are dealing with water shortages
caused by the leaking water meter. We pay rates and taxes, yet we receive third-rate services from the Council. It feels like Erasmia is being deliberately neglected. The Councillor always posts about Laudium on WhatsApp, but we in Erasmia are suffering—not just with water, but with other service delivery issues as well and no one seems willing to fix them. There is a severe water shortage in Erasmia and surrounding areas and if the Council continues to waste water like this, we will face even bigger problems in the near future. We need a strong leader in our community—someone who will not only talk but take real action, to address our service delivery issues.”
Estifa Ramoshala of Erasmia, told the Laudium Sun, “The water leaking from the meter box is a huge problem as clean water is flowing all over the street. The Council must come and fix it as soon as possible. I heard a few residents have lodged complaints at the Council office, but the Council still needs to address this problem quickly.”
Lushika Mooloo of the newly formed ‘Concerned Community Forum’ interim committee, told the Laudium Sun, “As you know we have only recently formed a task team and already our members are receiving complaints about the Tshwane Council, concerning poor service delivery in the Laudium/Erasmia area. We are prepared to work with all role-players for the betterment of our community and we will not be influenced by political affiliations. So far, only Councillor Prajay Ramjee has expressed his willingness to work with us, which we welcome very much. It is unacceptable that the community should receive such tardy services, where a pipe that has been repaired, leaks again a day later. We will raise this issue with the Tshwane Mayor and in the meanwhile, with Cllr Ramjee to see how the community’s frustration in such matters can be addressed.”
‘Concerned Community Forum’ interim
committee said, “It is unacceptable that the
community should receive such tardy services.”
The Laudium Sun contacted the relevant Council Department earlier, who undertook to repair the leak as a matter of priority.