Phoenix residents endure nine months of water cuts as leak remains unrepaired - IOL

The excavated area on Barford Road that remains unattended.

Residents of Sunford, Phoenix, say daily water interruptions and an unrepaired leak on Barford Road have left them frustrated for months.

They are also concerned about stagnant water, an open excavation and safety risks for children.

They have been forced to endure nine months of water cuts due to a burst pipe in Barford Road.

Annie Govender and her neighbour, Tina Naidoo say what started as a small leak outside their property in February has escalated into a bigger leak that has allegedly been left unattended by the eThekwini Municipality.

Govender had reported the matter to the Water and Sanitation Unit in February, said Naidoo.

She said plumbers had come out to attend to the leak at the time.

As part of the repairs, she said several small, and one huge hole was dug up.

She said the smaller holes were covered up while the large one remained open.

The two residents are confronted daily with “an excavated area filled with stagnant water, surrounded by soil, weeds and debris.”

Naidoo said since February nobody from the City’s Water and Sanitation Unit returned to fix the underground water leak. 

She claimed her family made attempts to get councillors in the areas to intervene, but it proved unsuccessful.

“This is upsetting and frustrating. We are told to save water, yet they are not sorting out a leak. It is a big hole. Kids living on the road play around the affected area. What happens if they get hurt?” added Naidoo.

She said that her paving was sinking as a result of the unattended hole.

Govender, 68, who lived on Barford Road for the past 37 years said her area also experienced water outages daily.

“When we reported the incident to the municipality in February it was a small leak. However the big hole that was dug up made the problem worse. If our water is stopped at night we have frogs croaking near the water that has collected in the hole. This is a terrible situation because we do not sleep well,” said Govender.

Another problem residents near the excavated area in the neighbourhood have to contend with was an increase in mosquitoes, said Govender.

“The road remains wet as a result of the water collecting in the hole. People exiting their homes have to skip over the water or else they can slip and fall.

“In the run-up to the 2026 Local Government Elections, and, after the elections, she noticed municipal workers inspecting the excavated area, three times but the leak has yet to be fixed.”

Between the daily water closures and the unattended underground water leak, Govender said things were nerve-wrecking.

“We save water. We are afraid of wasting water and we open our taps slowly. It is sad to see what our community is facing,” added Govender.

The newly elected councillor in the area, Nielisha Manipersad said if residents had no joy from the Water and Sanitation Unit in the past ten months the matter needed to be escalated.

“I would like to reach out to the affected residents and help them attend to this matter. If frogs are croaking near the water leak, Parks and Garden needs to get involved,” said Manipersad.

Manipersad said she went out to Sunford earlier this week only to be informed by residents that they had reported their water leaks in May.

She said this was unacceptable service delivery.

eThekwini Municipality had not commented at the time of publication.