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Cheap is expensive
By
Tanya Olckers, Writer
Everyone wants to save a buck. Get the stuff done as cheaply as possible.
The quality doesn’ t really matter as long as everything looks fine and it holds up for a little while. Of course, no need for a professional because they cost“ an arm and a leg”. The thing is, you get what you pay for.
I recently had an interesting encounter with a landlady, whom we shall call Alice.( Not her real name.)
Alice owns her own property as well as a garden flat which she rents out to tenants. I was told by her that she only uses the services of the‘ handymen’ in the neighbourhood rather than paying for a qualified plumber or electrician to do any repairs or maintenance on her properties.
“ Why?” I asked, incredulous.
“ All these people [ plumbers and electricians ] are a rip off,” was her response,“ Why must I pay a plumber a thousand rand when I can pay one of my guys three hundred rand for the same job?”
The attitude of homeowners across South Africa stood blatantly clear in front of me in the person of Alice the Landlady. What she said to me is not something new. I have heard friends, family and strangers in a Pick n Pay queue say the exact same thing.
And therein lies the rub, because while the plumbing industry is striving to offer quality services for a fair price, they are being undercut by unqualified handymen and workers who advertise their skills by standing sketchily outside major home and DIY outlets.( Side note: if you are one of those guys who just picks up unskilled labourers to work on plumbing jobs, you are part of the problem.)
Then I asked her a question:“ If you needed open heart surgery, would you go pick up a guy holding a cardboard sign advertising open heart surgery in front of a hospital?”
“ Well, no,” she replied. Then said,“ But that’ s not the same thing.”
Actually, it is. I want someone who is competent, qualified and compliant. Just as I won’ t want some dude operating on my heart to save money, I won’ t use the services of an unqualified plumber. My reasoning? The unqualified plumber has no idea what the legislation says about installations, he or she most likely has limited experience and while I am saving myself some money, I have no guarantee on the work done. Plus, their fumbling may cause even more damage or create a completely new plumbing issue. When I go to look for that person, they have vanished. I can’ t even take a complaint to PIRB or IOPSA because this random person is not registered with any official body.
What that means is that I will have to fork out for a qualified plumber – which I should have done in the first place – and the‘ cheap and cheerful’ quick fix I was after will just end up costing me more money.
I explained all of this to Alice. She shook her head.“ I will just fix things myself,” she said. To me, this is even more horrifying. It doesn’ t matter how many YouTube videos a lay person watches, it doesn’ t make them a qualified plumber.( Or heart surgeon.)
I pointed out to Alice that the vent outside her cottage’ s toilet window was not a legal installation and that there was a chance that fumes and pathogens may still be released into the bathroom. The vent pipe was a little too short and had not been taken above roof level( please see our Can You Fix It feature for pictures) and the pipe had simply been chonked in without any sealant, leaving it to wobble around like Captain Jack Sparrow.
Alice would not be swayed by my argument and in the end, opted for a‘ handyman’ to cut a hole in the eaves, insert a longer vent pipe and then stabilise it with whatever strong adhesive was at hand.
I looked at the vent pipe. It looked okay. It would hold for a while. I am certain she did not pay more than three hundred rand for the job, though. I know, that in time, she will most likely have to pay more to fix whatever mistakes were made here. I just hope she gets someone compliant and qualified.
I saw with the encounter with Alice that while we do our best to educate the public, it’ s up to them at the end of the day to come to the party. Some clearly don’ t. However, I feel with persistence and with all of us singing from the same hymn sheet we can collectively make a difference at some point. The general public, in my view, has no idea just how important plumbing is to their lives or what access to water and sanitation means in terms of health and well-being.
I took another long look at her repair and thanked the heavens that she was not someone who performs heart surgery. PA
Tanya
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July 2025 Volume 31 I Number 05 www. plumbingafrica. co. za