East residents fed up with Tshwane leaving open trenches
Residents in Newlands and Constantia Park are tired of Tshwane workers leaving trenches unfilled for months after fixing water pipes.
Residents of Newlands and Constantia Park are frustrated with Tshwane’s slow pace of filling trenches after water pipe repairs.
Ward 83 Councillor Andrew Lesch highlighted the issue, citing specific areas like Anthony Street and Kassia Avenue in Newlands and John Scott Street in Constantia Park.
“Tshwane has to be chased to fix water leaks, and then we have to chase them again to backfill the trenches,” said Lesch.
He mentioned that a burst pipe in Kassia Avenue was fixed three months ago in January, but the trench remains unfilled.
Lesch said another trench in Anthonie Street was fixed six months ago in September; however, no backfilling has been done.
He added that he always has to “fight” for services, and he has escalated the matter, but no action has been taken yet.
Tshwane spokesperson Lindela Mashigo acknowledged that the metro has an open trench backlog; however, is doing its best to ensure that all trenches are backfilled on time.
“Factors that cause a delay in backfilling some of the trenches are water-filled trenches due to pipe bursts or heavy rainfall, which makes it difficult to compact wet grounds.”
According to Mashigo, the delayed backfilling in the above-mentioned streets is because the metro has a backlog of open trenches.
He said the recent rain has also resulted in delays in response time.
“Turnaround time for clearing of sites and backfilling is seven days; however, the recent rainy season has resulted in delays to response time,” said Mashigo.
Mashigo explained that the metro plans to backfill all trenches as soon as repair work is completed or within the Service Level Agreement (SLA).
He said the metro’s procedure for inspecting and monitoring infrastructure repair sites involves barricading the trench for safety, opening a new work order for backfilling, and dispatching a backfilling team.
To address concerns about timely and thorough repairs, Mashigo stated that additional teams have been assigned to assist with infrastructure repairs and backfilling.
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