Parkview’s deteriorating water infrastructure leaves residents desperate for reliable service delivery

JOHANNESBURG - The deteriorating state of water infrastructure in Johannesburg's Parkview neighbourhood has left residents frustrated and desperate for reliable service delivery.

For over eight months, residents in the northern suburb have been grappling with water shortages following a massive pipe burst leading to intermittent supply or taps going completely dry.

The community told Eyewitness News that the pipeline had undergone repairs numerous times, however, due to shoddy workmanship and an aging network of pipelines, the water pressure often caused other weaker sections of the pipeline to burst.

As you walk around Parkview, you can see two ruptured pipes that have fractured the road's surface, revealing a web of cracks.

Fresh water streams down the street, while a massive excavation, exposed for months, remains a testament to Johannesburg Water's neglect.

"We keep not having water. So, yesterday, there was six hours of load shedding, and I came to bathe the kids but there was no water," said a resident told Eyewitness News.

The resident added that six months ago, Johannesburg City workers attempted to fix the broken water pipe that burst in the middle of the street but didn’t entirely succeed as water still seeped onto the street.

"The ground underneath the pipe is not stable, full, and hard before they fill it in. So, when they fit the soil on top of the pipe, it just collapses because every time they fixed it and the soil is on top, and the next thing it’s spewing water everywhere."

The community says the pipelines have reached the end of their lifespan, as have many roads, which are worsening the frequency and severity of pipe bursts.