The Democratic Alliance will ask for an inquiry into the “recent Rand Water pipe burst which discharged so much water that properties and vehicles were severely damaged” in on New Year’s Day.
That’s according to the party’s MP for Johannesburg South‚ Manny de Freitas‚ who‚ after the visiting the area on Thursday‚ said was “shocked to see the extent of the damage”.
Some media reports put the amount of lost water at 500 000 litres.
He noted that “officials from Rand Water were busy with mopping up and repair operations”.
“The question for me is; how did Rand Water allow this to happen? How did they not anticipate this burst pipe when local residents tell me that Rand Water officials have been visiting this particular site for the last two years‚” De Freitas said.
He added that “this disaster could’ve been averted had the necessary maintenance been done” and hoped that “lessons can be learnt from it so that such disasters are not repeated in future”.
Rand Water spokesperson Justice Mohale told IOL this week: “Pipes do burst. This pipe was not that old. It burst at one of the connections. These things do happen if pressure increases.”
– TMG Digital
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