Last Friday I was dismayed to discover that the hasty repair of a three-year-old water leak in Krugersdorp had failed just two days after my visit.
This major leak in Kameelperd Avenue, next to the Dan Pienaarville Reservoir, has already wasted an estimated 300 million litres of clean drinking water worth about R5 million—enough to fill 120 Olympic-size swimming pools.
I notified the Mogale City Mayor’s Office on Tuesday that I would be visiting the leak the following day with officials from the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS).
After ignoring the leak for three years, they hurriedly sent workers to drain the pooled water and repair the pipe, finishing at 2 am in the morning. When I arrived later, there was only a small puddle, which Mogale City officials assured me would soon evaporate.
Meanwhile, Mogale City’s Head of Corporate Communications, Adrian Amod, claimed that the repair was not prompted by my visit, but was simply the standard response to a leak reported only three weeks earlier.
This is nonsense as Ward Councillor Aloysha Jooste has evidence that she first reported the leak in August 2023 and has repeatedly followed it up ever since. It was only after the municipality learnt of my visit that it rushed to repair the leak overnight—an extraordinary response after three years of inaction.
This repair was botched, as the pipe was leaking again when I returned on Friday.
I have now written to Mogale City Mayor Lucky Sele demanding that this gushing pipe be properly repaired by Friday 17 July, when I will return to verify that the job has been done properly.
Last week I also visited four other long-running water leaks in Mogale City:
- Persistent leaks at the Krugersdorp Taxi Rank that could be repaired quickly by an ordinary plumber. There are also sewage leaks and illegal dumping into the nearby water canal that require urgent attention.
- A main line leak for more than two years at the corner of Van Riebeeck and Buiten Streets. This is the same pipeline that is leaking at the Dan Pienaarville Reservoir.
- A serious leak outside the iconic Pratley Putty factory in Jackson Street, Factoria, which threatens production and the livelihoods of 300 workers.
- Millions of litres of fresh water leaking from the Kenmare pump station into the tunnel beneath Voortrekker Road.
I have requested Mayor Sele to ensure that these major leaks are also repaired by Friday.
Mogale City has the second-highest physical water losses in Gauteng, with about 35% of its treated water lost through leaking pipes and reservoirs. Every month it wastes about R10 million of the water it purchases from Rand Water.
Gauteng faces a worsening water crisis. Municipalities cannot continue wasting millions of litres of precious drinking water while residents experience shortages and water restrictions.
I will be relentless in my War on Wasted Water (WWW), beginning with the worst leaks that should be repaired promptly. Municipalities must understand that wasting water is NOT acceptable, and I will hold them accountable.
