Solid brass and cast-iron .. thieves love the Joburg manhole covers

RELATED LINKS: City investigates uncovered manholes The Department of Labour investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of three-year-old Karabo Gwala, who fell into an open manhole in Soweto last week, has been completed and the findings have been handed over the Director of Public Prosecutions. Read more Remembering Karabo A proposal has been put forward to the municipality's Mayoral Committee to hold a weeklong campaign to raise awareness among adults to keep an eye on children playing in public places. Read more

New manhole covers to beat the vandals JOHANNESBURG is to replace its vandal-prone iron manhole covers with new ones made of concrete, in a project that will take two years. February 1, 2005 By Bafana Nzimande JOHANNESBURG WATER is set to replace missing manhole covers around the city in a project lasting two years and costing R10-million. Many of the city's drain covers - made from brass and cast iron - have been stolen, according to the City's water utility, and sold as scrap metal. Others have been damaged or vandalised. After investigating the problem, Johannesburg Water will be replacing the missing covers with ones made from concrete. "Our investigations have indicated that in order to prevent an increasing number of missing and vandalised manhole covers, it would be wise for us to replace all metal covers with concrete as it is not easily vandalised and won't be stolen," said Johannesburg Water's communications and marketing manager, Jameel Chand. Initiated in 2004, the two-year project will cost Johannesburg Water R10-million to complete. "Work," says Chand, "has already started in all 11 regions around Johannesburg." From August 2004 to January 2005 380 covers were reported missing. However, says Chand, these have been replaced and only 52 are still outstanding. "Since 2 August last year we have been able to replace 328 of the missing covers reported," Chand says. "But we still expect the number of missing covers to increase because we have also set up a task team to help us to identify unreported missing covers," he said. Johannesburg Water will spend a total of R5-million this year towards replacing covers. From the 11-targeted regions, Midrand, Randburg and Soweto are some of the highest recording areas of manhole theft. The work will be carried out by several of the utility's depots. In the light of the tragic death of three-year-old Karabo Gwala, who died a year ago this month, Johannesburg Water has placed stringent security measures in place at construction sites. Little Gwala drowned after falling into an open storm water drain where construction work was being done in Dube, Soweto. "Safety is one of our company's main policies, that's why we will make sure that all safety principles are applied on all working sites so that we can prevent any injuries during the construction process," says Chand. The replacement of the missing or damaged covers is an ongoing project, according to Chand. "We are aiming to make sure we have fewer injuries caused by open manholes," he adds. Chand urged residents to report any open or vandalised covers to Johannesburg Water, by calling 011 688 1500. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za