- A major pipe burst in Fish Hoek on 6 November led to widespread water outages, with some residents left without water for days.
- City repair teams worked around the clock to restore water, though delays continued as a sinkhole formed at the burst site.
- Frustrated residents voiced concerns on social media, and city officials advised using the City’s alert channels for updates on future repairs.
A major water burst on Wednesday 6 November, left residents in Fish Hoek without water for days.
In images and videos shared on social media, water could be seen gushing down stairs while a massive sinkhole could be seen in a flooded street. By Monday, 11 November the sinkhole had still not been repaired.
Residents reacted to the water leak on social media.
“We still don’t have any drinking water, thank goodness for a borehole – at least we can flush, wash and boil to drink,” one resident wrote.
Another commented that it was sad to see water being wasted.
“So sad that the infrastructure is so old resulting in precious water being wasted.”
A third resident commented that a huge amount of water was pooling in the street.
“The pipe burst in the road just above the school, a huge amount of water, no storm water drain pipe would have been able to gather that amount of water.”
On Thursday 7 November, Ward 64 councillor Izabel Sherry said teams worked throughout the night to try and restore water to affected areas.
“The teams have been working throughout the night and are expecting water to be restored from 12:00 today. There is a water tanker parked at the Fish Hoek Sports Fields.”
Yesterday Sherry said the road still needed to be repaired. “The burst pipe happened on Wednesday (6 November) around midday on the corner of 16th Avenue and Nelson Road,” she shared with the People’s Post. “It wasn’t a gradual leak, it was a massive burst and they had to replace a major pipe and it was done throughout the night.”
Restored
She added that most of the water was restored by Thursday morning, with some water pressure issues.
“On Friday there was maintenance work that needed to be done on valves which caused further water outages in Fish Hoek,” said Sherry. “The road is just full of sand at this stage. we have to wait for the department to come back to do a proper reinstatement of the road. So, it is almost like a massive sinkhole that happened which needs to be reinstated and resurfaced.”
Last week, the City advised residents who experienced water supply disruptions to follow the Water and Sanitation Directorate’s Whats App or City Alert channels for updates.
“Unplanned water supply disruptions occur due to unforeseen events, such as pipe bursts or urgent repairs,” the statement read. “Work being done to restore water supply in affected areas is communicated on a daily basis, with progress updates published frequently throughout the day.”
Mayco member for water and sanitation Zahid Badroodien said water maintenance and repairs were usually completed in the shortest time possible.
Delays
“There are times where delays may be experienced due to external factors such as safety risks to staff, limited accessibility of pipes due to underground services, tree roots and ground composition,” he said.
“In such cases, communication to residents is prioritised. By staying tuned in to these updates, residents can track the status of repairs easily, checking progress throughout the day until the water supply is restored.”
Badroodien added that planned water supply disruptions were scheduled in advance to allow for proactive maintenance or upgrades to infrastructure.
“In addition to the R224 million set aside to replace 50 km of water pipes to improve water infrastructure, water and sanitation teams also repair unplanned pipe bursts daily.”
For both planned and unplanned disruptions, the City shares information, including the start time, location, affected areas.
Residents are urged to log a service request if they continue to experience low water pressure or disruptions once repairs have been completed.
