Incomplete, ‘shoddy’ repairs pose road hazard in Umbilo

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09-01-2026
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Berea Mail
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Umbilo residents say incomplete burst pipe repairs have left their road damaged, unsafe and inaccessible for more than a week.

HAVING lived on Hereward Road, Umbilo, for more than 25 years, this year’s New Year’s festivities for Gana Naiken were marred by glaring sand and rock piles in front of his driveway, and in the middle of the road following burst pipe repairs.

Naiken is at his wits’ end. It has been close to 10 days that he and his opposite neighbour have been battling to access their driveways.
In the early hours of Tuesday last week they were woken up by gushing water from an underground street pipe. After reporting the matter a team of plumbers came and worked on the problem.

“They dug up the affected areas and after fixing the pipes they mildly covered the area. A second team of contractors came over the next day, after a suspected leak underneath. The area was dug up again.

“After that they left, leaving a pile of sand and rocks, a huge open hole with pipes peeping through, and an unstable walkway. A third team came over the next day, followed by a fourth team the day after. All different from the previous ones; working on the pipes, still leaving piles all around,” Naiken lamented.

He said he had to cordon off the road entrance himself, seeing that the oncoming vehicles may accidentally fall into the open hole, especially at night. He added that they could not even have visitors over during this time because of inaccessible road parking.

“The road surface is not stable, and it is difficult to walk through the road because of exposed rocks and cracked surface.”

One residence on the same road has its street drain blocked by the rubble, and fear the water coming from the house will soon flow back into the house. Another neighbour’s water meter was damaged by the repairs, rendering it dysfunctional.

Following an enquiry on Monday, eThekwini Municipality responded yesterday (Wednesday): “Please be advised that the City is still in the process of collating the necessary information from the relevant department. The matter is receiving attention, and a comprehensive response will be provided as soon as the information becomes available.”

All that residents ask for, Naiken said, is for the relevant people to clean up the mess. “We feel like we’ve been forgotten as we wait for the unknown, and our normal daily lives are at a hazardous compromise,” he said.