Emmarentia Residents Association info@era.org.za (000) 111-1111

Emmarentia Post, No 2, July 2024

Residents rage over no water

Dry taps have continued to plague us this year while the finger-pointing game between Rand Water and Joburg Water (JW) has persisted. And every time, we never get real answers as to why we don’t have water. What we do know is that a 3-hour power failure at one of the crucial pump stations that supplies to Hursthill Reservoir 2 (HH2) can lead to days of intermittent or no water from our taps.

So when Rand Water announced a major water interruption over June/July because of essential maintenance we were excited that at last much-needed maintenance would be done. But how would we be affected by Eikenhof (the crucial pump station that provides HH2) operating at 50%, then 67% and then 83% over a period of more than 18 days?

As our Day Zero approached in late June as Rand Water and JW had advised, we filled baths, containers, and every available bottle. Initially, the water still flowed. We thought we were going to be okay.

And then the water dried up. Why? When will it come back? Why were some suburbs supplied by HH2 receiving water but not us? What is JW doing to restore water to those that don’t have? Have they forgotten to open a valve?

Our councillor, other councillors from neighbouring suburbs also affected and Ferrial Adam of WaterCAN (luckily for us also an Emmarentia resident) continued to demand answers from Joburg Water. Answers were as scarce as our water: “The system is constrained by poor supply”. 

We despaired at the continued poor showing of HH2, one of JW’s worst performers. No wonder residents came to call it Worsthill.

Residents rally to support

Meanwhile, the mosque and many residents generously opened their borehole taps for all; several others offered free bottled water to those who could pick it up. A water tanker organised by community members delivered water to the elderly and brought it to the shops on Greenhill Road several times. 

Our Councillor, Nicolene Jonker, organised for JW to come with a water tank to fill residents’ containers and for a JoJo tank to be installed on the corner of Komatie and Greenhill Road. For flat dwellers and shopkeepers on Greenhill, it was a welcome relief. Huge thank yous to you all.

Greenhill Road flat dwellers fill up their bottles from the JoJo tank

Reached the limit

But when we reached nine days without water, we were enraged.

‘It’s a crisis—we can’t take a shower, and personal hygiene is at risk. We have elderly people to care for’, said Noreen Patel, one of the spokespersons of Emmarentia’s water protest organising team that had sprung into action on Whatsapp. With no answers coming from JW, despite continued pressure being put on them, the call soon went out for residents to come and protest on the corner of Judith and Barry Hertzog on July 2.

Residents block off Barry Hertzog

‘While this protest is in Emmarentia, .. the frustration we are feeling can be felt in communities from Orange Farm to Sandton to Kensington’, said Patel.

And residents responded to the call. Joined by Greenside residents, close to 100 people gathered to demand answers. With Tyla’s song ‘Water’ revving up the protestors, the message was clear: ‘we want water and we want answers from JW now’.

JW acceded to a meeting. After this protest, water did flow into our taps, even higher up the hill. There was a noticeable improvement. But water leaks across the suburb once again multiplied as pressure was once again put on the ageing pipes. 

The protest committee put their questions to JW and received these answers.

JW responds

·  HH1 and HH2 receive their water via gravity feed – there are no pumps involved. Although the two reservoirs can be configured to ‘work together’, currently they operate independently.

·  Supply to HH2 has been reconfigured by redirecting water from elsewhere in the Commando system. As long as this water shifting has no detrimental effect on these other parts of the system, there will be no reason to reverse this, but it will be closely monitored.

·  There are medium to long-term plans already formulated to address the inability of the Commando system to reliably meet demand in its supply zone, but these are subject to the required budget being available.

At the same time JW continued to blame users across all of Joburg “for a spike in consumption,” says Adam. She says JW acknowledge that this problem will have to be addressed and it accepts that the “ageing and under-maintained water infrastructure also contributes to ‘demand’ exceeding supply.”

The organising committee also queried whether structural cracks in HH1 and HH2 impact on water supply. JW responded that they “are not of concern” although “ideally [they should] have been remedied already.”

What now?

The reconfiguring of the supply to HH2 “is good news”, says Adam, “provided it remains like this.” She credits the reconfiguring to the protest as well as “several other levers that were being activated by various parties.”

What’s more worrying says Adam is that “JW relies on COJ to provide JW’s water maintenance budget; it doesn’t control any revenue it generates that it can then use for its own capex”. With JW’s infrastructure backlog at R24 billion according to its 2023/24 business plan, there’s a lot that needs to be done with very little money to do it with.

Moreover, since the 9-day outage, we have still experienced intermittent outages during the day for which there is no explanation. And we all know the difficult months of September and October are still to come, never mind the planned major 6-month repair of the tunnel that brings water from the Lesotho Highlands Water Project to the Vaal.

Organising committee still active

The HH2 protest organising committee is not dissolving; it plans to mobilise the community to conduct further protests if needed, and to work together with WaterCAN and the Joburg Crisis Committee on larger and more wide-reaching initiatives to raise awareness. (see box below) Join the HH2 protest Whatsapp group here https://chat.whatsapp.com/DCHKAhWh14oIK4lAN4GRUa

Join a wider protest

Water is not the only problem we’re faced with. If you feel strongly, join the protest with other organisations on July 27. The protest is highlighting:

  • poor and absent leadership
  • lack of consultation on R230 electricity surcharge
  • breakdown in service delivery
  • frequent water outages, poor maintenance. Find out more from Ferrial Adam on 074 181 319

Water losses grow

Emmarentia resident and engineer, Arno Steinmuller, has been delving into JW’s annual  reports, more particularly its water loss per day. In 2019/2020 financial year (FY) the loss of water (per day) was 550 million litres.

In the last FY (2023) on record, this increased to 800 million litres per day. This is 40% higher than what it was three years ago. The most distressing thing for him is that ‘the losses increase year after year but we are being told we are using too much water.’

Parkhurst Bowls Club

The Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) awarded the tender to Genzenix to develop the Parkhurst Bowls and Soccer Club earlier this year.

Genzenix plans to develop a mixed-use development including affordable housing on the site. It also has to clear and secure the site and provide temporary emergency accommodation to the numerous people who are living there illegally. Construction is expected to begin within the next 12-18 months.

JPC and the City are still responsible for the site. In mid-July, the area was raided by law enforcement agencies.

No sooner did the raid start than the occupiers burnt their possessions. Once law enforcement agencies had left, the occupiers rebuilt their structures.

Meanwhile, the Bowls Club Action Group (composed of a number of residents associations) is busy planning to launch an application “against the City and the occupiers for…. relief relating to the further invasion of the property and its utilisation in contravention of the town planning and environmental legislation.”

Adopt-a-park progress

While ERA waits for the City to approve our request to adopt the Botanical Gardens Spruit Park (the park below the dam bordered by Louw Geldenhuys, John Mackenzie and Hofmeyer Roads) work to make it safer for everyone is ongoing, says ERA Exco’s Saber Manjoo, the driver of the project.

On Freedom Day, 27 April, members of the community, security companies and scouts undertook a major cleanup of the spruit. Truckloads of debris and litter were removed from the area. During July 2024, residents living close to the area sponsored the clean-up of the overgrowth and removal of litter from the forested area at the corner of Limpopo and John Mackenzie. “Thanks to all that have made the area cleaner, safer-looking and more visible,” Manjoo says.

He urges everyone to “visit the park, go for a walk, take your dogs, take the kids to the playground, walk the spruit and soak up the lovely space that is now available.”

The park after the first tidy up in April

Thanks also to security companies who regularly move people on who are trying to engage in illegal activities and to the Let’s Work team who do a great job by continually clearing the spruit of illegally dumped refuse.

Your help needed

While we are waiting for the official adoption, we have identified a few projects that we would like you to know about so we can get your support.

  • Tidy up the remaining portions of the Spruit by removing weeds, overgrowth and litter – this could cost us in the region of R30 000
  • Fix up the gum poles around the spruit to prevent vehicles and trolleys being taken into the Spruit – this could cost us in the region of R10 000
  • Paint the benches and playground equipment – this could cost us around R15 000.

Find out more

If anyone is interested in helping with these next steps or has other ideas, please contact Saber Manjoo on   084 799 7860. Or donate to: Emmarentia Residents Association, Nedbank; A/c: 1975051173; Branch Code: 198765, reference PARK.

Dam wall takes shape

 Some regular visitors to the top dam in     Emmarentia Park might be alarmed by the mass of concrete and the height of the new wall. Is this over-engineering and a waste of the City’s money?

The dam was built around the 1930s. Since then ‘we’ve lost wetlands to sports fields while densification and numerous developments have led to more hard surfacing with more runoff,’ says Jane Eagle, a retired City official.  All this means that a new sturdier design is imperative.

Eagle says that the dam designs were done by credible dam engineers who considered the increased retention capacity, given the possibility of floods which are becoming more common with climate change.

The outflow is being strengthened with concrete

While time is tight to complete the project and the budget is constrained, Malcolm Fiddes, City Parks’ dam project coordinator says, ‘we are doing the best we can with what we’ve got.’

He says the earthen wall will be raised to the height of the new culverts and the crossing will be made safe for pedestrians and dogs. Soil with rhizomes of the invasive plants cleared from the dam has been piled behind the site office and once it is decomposed, will be dealt with safely so that it doesn’t invade the dam again.

Budget constraints

Fiddes points out that the study of the dam which specified what needed to be done to repair it, was completed many years before money was found and the construction began. As a result, there are budget limitations with regard to the desilting.

‘City Parks will have to continue doing annual control of the invasives to keep them at bay,’ he says.

Concern over mounds of mud

While many residents are concerned over the mounds of mud that have been removed from the dam and laid near it, Eagle notes that ‘it is a construction site and some temporary disturbance of vegetation is to be expected. However, the affected area is largely Kikuyu and the remnant pockets of natural grassland within the park are not affected by the construction activities.’

Much of this mud will be used to ‘fill in eroded areas and some will be transported elsewhere for use as landscaping material once dry’ says Eagle.

Fired up by pizza

Shops on Greenhill Road were built in the 1950s. We will be carrying snippets about characters in the various shops/restaurants in the next newsletters. In this one, we highlight Mario Camparada, pizza chef at Renato’s Trattoria.

As you walk into Renato’s Trattoria there’s a framed photograph of a Northcliff Melville Times news story from July 14, 1987. In it, a young Mario stands next to the pizza oven with his Swiss business partner Reynald. They are celebrating the opening of their new restaurant. Almost 40 years later, he’s still there making pizzas.

Originally from Italy, Mario has worked all his life as a pizza chef, first in Australia and New Zealand before coming to South Africa in the 1980s. He spent time working in Cape Town and Durban before moving to various restaurants across Joburg and then  Emmarentia.

While working in Troyeville, a customer told him about an empty shop in Emmarentia, perfect for a pizza place.

Next door to the empty shop was a stationery shop, Books Unlimited,   Komatie Butchery was across the road, there were two chemists, two veggie/fruit shops, the Vogue Shop, a second-hand clothing shop and a bank and a building society.

‘The shop on the corner was a laundry worked by gas – that’s why I took this place because in the kitchen you can’t work with electricity for cooking. They took [the gas] from Barry Hertzog and at that time it was cheap to put it in. Now if you want gas, you have to sell your house to put the gas here.’

How did it come to be called Renato’s? ‘Mario is too popular,’ Mario told Reynald, but ‘Renato is a sound, Re-na-to,’ and Renato’s Trattoria it remains even though Reynald left the business partnership long ago.

Mario remembers it as ‘a very good time’. Competition was minimal and pizzas were growing in popularity. And even though in those days there was a large Jewish community, Mario made a plan. ‘Fettucine Alfredo is supposed to go with ham or some bacon, instead, I chose chicken, for my Jewish customers,’ and he changed the menu to suit them. It included fillet and veal, because ‘normal steak was not so popular.’

Renato’s team

Now ‘the good old times for restaurants have passed, pizzas are all over, and people don’t look for quality, they just look at the money,’ he says. 

Quality is something Mario will not compromise on. ‘Our pizza dough takes a long time to rise and we still make it by hand.’ And they continue to source many ingredients from Italy: tomatoes, capers, parma ham and anchovies and that makes it even more costly because of the ‘behaviour of the Rand.’

Accommodating the Muslim community

To satisfy the growing Muslim community, Renato’s buys from Hamza’s Butchery next door to ensure the  chicken used on pizzas and in their Alfredos is halaal.

At 78 years old, Mario still works a 6-day week and has no plans to retire.

‘If you’re not working,’ he says, ‘your mind changes quickly, it doesn’t work anymore.’

It’s not hard to spot Mario – you’ll know he’s at work if you see one of his grey Piaggios parked outside the restaurant. 

Updates

* Mixed-use construction site, Gleneagles Road

We did warn residents in the last newsletter to expect dust and noise from the new construction on Gleneagles.

And there was! Large numbers of huge trucks, laden with soil from the construction site started daily processions across the Emmarentia Dam wall prompting residents to report layers of dust lying heaped on Vaal Road, complaints of sinus, and concerns over the safety of the wall.

Numerous residents reported to JRA; ERA met with the contractor to follow up on residents’ concerns.

Finally, with your letters, our discussions with the contractor, the support of our councillor and JRA, trucks began to drive down Linden Road instead. 

Thanks to all the residents who gave us a bigger voice to act on your behalf.

* ERA AGM—September

Keep a lookout for the next ERA AGM coming to you in September. We need new ideas and new people to join us.

* Rose garden

Join other rose gardeners at Johannesburg Botanical Gardens, Emmarentia on 8 August to help prune the newly-planted roses. Take your own garden gloves, long-handled loppers and secateurs. More info: contact 083 985 8632, goldreefrosesociety@gmail.com

* Checkers truck parking

ERA is still not happy with Checkers loading zone and large trucks overflowing onto Komatie Road.

According to the new manager there is an “intention” to improve the situation. Please e-mail us any photos of obstruction of Komatie Rd by trucks to info@era.org.za so that we can continue putting pressure on Checkers. 

* Objections to rezoning of 88 Komatie Road

Many thanks to the residents that objected to the request for the rezoning to business of a house at 88 Komatie Road.

ERA and many residents believe that this property is part of the residential part of the suburb and that by rezoning it, it will cause more traffic congestion, the area will deteriorate and property prices will fall.

Moreover, objectors believe that there is ample office space for such businesses in current business zones including the new mixed development on Gleneagles Road. 

Upcoming events

As the cold recedes and we all come back to life, so too do the events. And there are some biggies. ERA will be doing all it can to make sure that event organisers keep to their promises.

We will be adding more details here https://era.org.za/as and when we get them of who to phone about problems on the day etc. 

2 AugustKids movie night – 7-9.30pmEmmarentia Primary School
3 AugustLiefde by die Dam – 8-6.30pm (sound checks on 2 August)Botanic Gardens – problems on the day 083 666 1636
17 AugustTotal Sports – 5km, 10km – 6am – 5pmMarks Park
25 AugustTribute to Women – 10am – 6pmMarks Park
31 Aug, 1 SeptemberLinden Market – 8am – 5pmBotanic Gardens

The rules for Boreholes

 No water coming from Emmarentia’s taps has been common over the past two years forcing many residents to install boreholes on their properties at great cost to themselves. ERA’s town planning expert, Gemey    Abrahams outlines how residents can comply with the City’s borehole installation bylaws.

Section 14(b) of the City of Johannesburg’s Municipal Planning Bylaw, 2018, says that you cannot sink a borehole or extract water from a borehole on your property without first getting permission from the municipality.

Find the Application Form here https://www.joburg.org.za/departments_/Pages/City%20directorates%20including%20departmental%20sub-directorates/development%20planning/Land-Use-Management-Forms.aspx  

Residents must complete Form A and Form 10 and submit to: LandUseApplications@joburg.org.za

The key requirements (there is a long list) are that you must include a site plan that:

  • shows the position of the borehole on the site,
  • where the services are located (your water, sewer and electrical pipes and connections),
  • the vegetation, position of house and boundaries as well as any other buildings within 15 metres of your common boundaries as well as elevations to show the slope of the site.

We checked these requirements with the Planning Department to see if there are any exceptions and it was confirmed that everyone must make an application if putting in a borehole. According to Cllr Nicolene Jonker, those who have already installed boreholes must use the same forms.

City news

Big thanks to Councillor Nicolene for keeping us informed and doing her utmost to make the City accountable. If you want to join her very informative WhatsApp group for Emmarentia residents, click here

Keep these numbers somewhere safe:

Report cable theft, vandalism etc

👉🏾 WhatsApp: 083 579 4497

👉🏾 Call:490 7900/11 or 490 7553

If an individual posing as a City Power official demands cash from you to avoid service disconnection, please report to these numbers immediately

Logging Monthly Consumption:

1. Visit e-Joburg: https://www.e-joburg.org.za

2. Log in and input your meter readings for water and electricity.

3. Submit your readings monthly.

Register a new account on e-Joburg: https://www.e-joburg.org.za/register

Reporting billing Errors

Email: regionBrevenue@joburg.org.za to report discrepancies.

Applying for Prepaid Services

Visit the City Power Service Connection Process: https://www.citypower.co.za/customer-services/customer-relations/service-connection-process

Follow the steps for prepaid services.

Pensioner Rebates

* 60-69 years: Complete the form: https://eservices.joburg.org.za/SiteAssets1/COJ-Forms/60-69%20Pensioner%20Rebate.pdf.

* 70+ years: Complete the form: https://eservices.joburg.org.za/SiteAssets1/COJ-Forms/70%20pensioner%20Rebate.pdf

* Pensioners do not need to reapply annually unless their status changes.

Expanded Social Package (ESP)

* Visit the ESP centre at the Westbury TDC Centre on the corner of Perth Road and Harmony Street, Westbury: https://maps.app.goo.gl/97HZnwx1WR6u9P66A?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy

* Bring your ID, proof of income, and proof of residence.

* More info: https://joburg.org.za/services_/Pages/City%20Services/Social%20Package/Social-Package.aspx

Don’t forget:

If you want Nicolene (063 479 4234) to follow up on a failed service delivery issue, please send her your information in the following format to streamline the process:

▶Your Name:

▶Your Mobile Number:

▶Address where the issue occurred:

▶Date when the issue was logged:

▶Time when the issue was logged:

▶Issue Ref nr:

▶Short description of the issue:

Check all the details of who to contact for a reference here:

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