Peter Andrews of Hoegenoeg told Grocott’s Mail that he has been driven to desperation after two years of trying to get his neighbour to fix a leaking tap in his yard.
The continuously leaking tap is less than two metres from Andrews’ house and is damaging his property, with his floors being damaged by damp.
Peter Andrews of Hoegenoeg told Grocott’s Mail that he has been driven to desperation after two years of trying to get his neighbour to fix a leaking tap in his yard.
The continuously leaking tap is less than two metres from Andrews’ house and is damaging his property, with his floors being damaged by damp.
When Grocott’s Mail went to take a look, Andrews demonstrated how he has been forced to build a makeshift drain along the side of his house to force most of the overflow from the tap to flow along the side of his house and not into it.
He said “there was this pool of water there full of blue stuff that I filled (with bricks and sand) cause I was scared for the children,” pointing to a pile of rubble near the end of his selfconstructed drainage channel.
The overflow from the tap extends along two houses with Andrews’ other neighbor’s garden visibly greener compared to its surrounds.
Andrews said he has gone to the municipality numerous times last year and four times this year, but that all they do is “come and close the water mains, and then the young guy just opens it again when he comes home.” The neighbour was not available for comment.
The municipal spokesperson, Thandy Matebese, he said “I will report theproblem to the engineering department so that they can see exactly what the problem is and then we will try and find a permanent solution.”
He added further that “we do not do plumbing for people on their private property, and all we can do is advise the person to fix the problem.
In this case though we will be forced to take drastic action as you are aware we currently have water restrictions in place, and we cannot afford this kind of water wastage.”
