Relief abounds as Johannesburg Water closes Benmore Shopping Centre leak

After two weeks of continuous water loss and growing public frustration, Johannesburg Water (JW) has repaired the pipe burst at Benmore Shopping Centre, bringing relief to businesses in the centre. The leak, which began in early February inside the centre, was finally repaired on February 17, following mounting pressure from Ward 103 councillor Lynda Shackleford and repeated reports from the shopping centre and local residents. The leak, located in the parking area at the Benmore Shopping Centre, was initially believed to be linked to the centre’s internal infrastructure.

However, after the centre’s maintenance team excavated the area to investigate, the source of the leak was identified as the municipal pipe. The matter was escalated, but according to Shackelford, no team had been seen on site for nearly two weeks after the initial report. Shackelford linked the delay to broader operational challenges facing the utility, including recent supply disruptions from Rand Water and a strike that affected response times.

“My biggest concern, at the moment, is JW getting back to catch up on all the outstanding issues from the last two to three weeks. They are very far behind with bigger outages that we’ve had because of the Rand Water supply issues and the utility’s strike. “When are we going to get all these sorted?

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Have they come up with a contingency plan? This is very concerning. Even a small leak is a huge loss of water to the city, when other parts of the city don’t have water.” Following enquiries sent by the publication on February 11, JW confirmed, on February 16, that a repair team had been dispatched and the repairs were completed on February 17.

Zandfontein depot manager Tshilidzi Dombo acknowledged that recent disruptions had caused significant backlogs. “The recent strike caused backlogs, but all teams are back at work. We now have full capacity.

Dombo said they have developed a formal contingency and catch-up plan to address accumulated service requests. “The team are getting more jobs than normal operations, to cover for back logs.” Add The Citizen as a preferred source to see more from Sandton Chronicle in Google News and Top Stories.

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