Johannesburg - A multimillion-rand broadband installation project in Joburg is destroying infrastructure and compromising essential municipal services, say residents.
This comes after several houses in Sandhurst and Hurlingham were recently plunged into darkness and experienced water shortages when pipes were cut during the installation of fibre-optic cables by a sub-contractor.
Ross Paton, a homeowner in Sandhurst, claimed his water and electricity was cut off four times after contract workers employed by Molapo Technology worked in the area.
Molapo, a telecoms company, was commissioned by the project’s main contractor, Huawei, to install broadband in Sandhurst, Parkmore, Sunninghill, Featherbrooke Estate, Dunkeld and other areas.
Paton said his neighbour, Christian des Closières, a French oil and gas company executive was forced to run electricity on a generator for eight days when workers struck a power cable.
“We sat there thinking it was load shedding but realised something was amiss when we saw other houses had power. They (contract workers) come in with a pickaxe and ask questions later.”
“We’ve just had new water pipes installed in the area. What is the point of placing these cables when they compromise essential services and leave us in the dark,” he said.
Yesterday, another resident, Beverley Markgraaf, said they too had been left without water for nearly 24 hours after workers cut into a water pipe.
“One of my neighbours pointed out the water pipes to the employees and they still broke them,” she said.
Sandhurst is also home to several prominent figures, including MTN chief executive, Sifiso Debengwa.
At one stage a water pipe burst, forcing Joburg Water to respond.
In a cellphone recording, Eskom officials confirmed the compression of the soil by Molapo after laying their cables made it harder for them to dig and repair their infrastructure.
Ward 90 councillor Anthony Still said this was a good project but stressed that where the contractors dug, they needed to be more careful. He said he had received several complaints in Parkmore.
“It is already a huge disruption having your pavement dug up. MTN must be held accountable for the quality of work done by the sub-contractor they’ve employed,” he said.
MTN SA chief technology officer Eben Albertyn said MTN had placed independent quality officers on the ground to ensure sub-contractors adhered to best practice when interacting with the affected residents.
He said there were only six water and irrigation systems affected and only one major incident involving a damaged main water pipe. These, he said, were resolved in a short space of time.
Saturday Star