City allocates R55m to expedite trench reinstatements following water infrastructure repairs

06 September 2024

The City of Cape Town is allocating R55 million this financial year to expedite trench reinstatements following water infrastructure repairs. The City is undertaking water pipe replacement and maintenance at an unprecedented rate, which leads to a higher volume of reinstatements required where work is completed. A multi-prong approach is being implemented to tackle the reinstatement list, including roping in external contractors. 

As of July 2024, the Water and Sanitation Directorate has approximately 3 700 trench reinstatements in the pipeline, which is made up of road, sidewalk, meter and driveway reinstatements, among others.

To address the most urgent reinstatements, external service providers are being contracted. The Urban Mobility Directorate will assist on major mobility roads to ensure disruption to traffic flow is minimised.

Plans are also afoot to improve the efficiency of operations and turnaround of future reinstatements.

During the 2023/2024 financial year, the Water and Sanitation Directorate allocated over R33 million specifically for reinstatements handled internally. This figure excludes the work supported by the Urban Mobility Directorate in areas such as the City Centre, South Peninsula, Constantia, and Pelican Park. Looking ahead to 2024/2025, the City has significantly increased the reinstatement budget to R55 million to further expedite reinstatements and enhance service delivery.

'We apologise for the inconvenience that the need for reinstatements causes to all our residents. Our teams do their best to repair pipe bursts as quickly as possible. We are also making multi-billion rand investments to replace water pipes proactively and upgrade the overall water network. This includes doubling water pipe replacement to 50km annually. We thank our residents for their patience. Rest assured our teams are committed to completing reinstatements as soon as possible,' said the City's Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation, Councillor Zahid Badroodien. 

Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office