Burst pipe turns Gqeberha street into a river and leaves residents without water

Cape Road in Newton Park, Gqeberha, briefly turned into a river on Tuesday morning when a large water pipe burst near the intersection with 2nd Avenue, cracking open the tar and sending millions of litres of clean water gushing down the street and into stormwater drains.

The burst caused pressure and supply problems for several neighbourhoods, including Newton Park, Mill Park, Greenacres, Perridgevale and Parsons Hill.

Ward 7 councillor Brendon Pegram issued a statement warning residents in surrounding areas that their water supply could be affected as municipal contractors worked to repair the damaged pipe.

“I was notified about the issue around 6.10am and immediately notified our teams to send someone out,” said Pegram.

The burst pipe, at the intersection of Cape Road and 2nd Avenue, caused a section of road to collapse. Municipal traffic services closed the damaged section and directed traffic around it.

Further up the road, municipal contractors opened a manhole, seemingly trying to shut off the water supply to the intersection so that inspections and repair work could start.

Meanwhile, water was gushing up from below the surface, flooding the left lane of Cape Road towards the city centre, before disappearing into stormwater drains.

By Tuesday afternoon, repairs had stalled because of a new complication, said Pegram. “The issue is more complex than initially thought. It appears the WiFi network boxes have been installed over the water pipes, which is not permissible.

“The WiFi company is on site, working on a solution to address the issue. However, this may result in significant network disruptions for the surrounding area.

“Given the magnitude of the pipe burst, it is unlikely that repairs will be completed today,” said Pegram.

Pegram advised residents to prepare for an extended water outage. While the municipality provided no update on when repairs to the pipe were expected to be complete, it released a statement listing water leaks that were repaired in Westering, Linton Grange, Kabega Park, Algoa Park, Korsten, North End, Swartkops and Bluewater Bay, as part of ongoing service delivery efforts.

Tuesday’s incident follows a string of water infrastructure failures across the city and comes just days after the metro described parts of its water system as “prone to failure” in a commissioned report.

In Lorraine — one of the metro’s fastest-growing suburbs — 24 pipe bursts were recorded in just six weeks, prompting an emergency public meeting and renewed warnings from engineers and residents.

Read more: Failing water pipes threaten one of Nelson Mandela Bay’s fastest-growing areas

Ward 8 councillor Gustav Rautenbach said the infrastructure in parts of his ward was “imploding” and called for immediate intervention. He said the metro had allowed years of townhouse developments in areas like Lorraine without upgrading the underlying water network.

The municipality has confirmed that between 42% and 48% of all potable water in Nelson Mandela Bay is lost before reaching residents, largely due to burst pipes, leaks and illegal connections.

Late on Tuesday evening, the municipality sent out a statement saying, “The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality wishes to inform residents that a major water outage has occurred in Newton Park due to a burst on a 300 diameter pipeline at the corner of Cape Road and 2nd Avenue earlier this morning.

“The repair process has been delayed due to the complexity of the situation, including the presence of additional infrastructure in the area. Electricity supply in the immediate area is being temporarily shut off to allow safe access to the burst pipe.

“Construction and repair work will continue throughout the night. While every effort is being made to expedite the repairs, water supply is expected to be restored by mid-morning tomorrow [Wednesday].” DM