Kensington properties flooded
“Every spring I try to get this problem addressed before the rains arrive. Sometimes I manage, often I do not. This year, I logged two requests with Joburg Connect, but nothing was done,” said Ms Cahill.
Years of pleas to address problems related to storm water drainage have fallen on deaf ears. This has led to more flooding and damage.
Residents in Hannibal Street spent last week mopping up and counting their losses after the heavy rains.
Ms Lee Cahill, a resident, said there has always been a capacity problem with the open section of the drain which runs between Duthie and Hannibal streets. However, the problem worsened a few years ago when the city gave a property owner permission to build a driveway access over an important secondary drain in Hannibal Street.
“To the best of my knowledge, this was done in contravention of the storm water bylaws. In the past, if the open section overflowed, most of the water flowed across the street into the next drain and then down into the underground section. I had some problems with my garages being flooded a few times, but since the driveway has been built, I have had several really major floods, affecting my entire property. The Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) did make some alterations to the open section of the drain the last time this happened, but we need an engineer to assess the whole situation thoroughly and to come up with a permanent solution,” said Ms Cahill.
She said the problem is exacerbated by residents who dump refuse into the open section of the drain. This, and overgrowth in the drain itself, causes blockages leading to floods.
“Every spring I try to get this problem addressed before the rains arrive. Sometimes I manage, often I do not. This year, I logged two requests with Joburg Connect, but nothing was done. The result was a major blockage and very heavy, fast-moving flooding. If an adult, child or animal were to be washed into that open section of the drain during a flood like this, or pulled into the underground section by the overflow, they would not stand a chance,” said Ms Cahill.
After the city’s failure to address her concerns, the EXPRESS forwarded an enquiry to the JRA. Ms Cahill also escalated her complaint to JRA’s chief executive officer.
“Luckily, he took action immediately. The local JRA depot manager came out to have a look at the situation a few hours later, and has committed to escalating the capacity issue to the city’s planning department. They will send out an engineer to assess the structural issues properly,” said Ms Cahill.
She said the depot manager also arranged for all of the post-flood debris to be removed. Ms Cahill was relieved about this because the storm water had washed away the cover to the main sewer and there was sewage mixed into the mud and debris.
“I received great service after reporting my concerns to the chief executive officer, but ideally, I should not have had to go this far.
“This makes me wonder if there is not some form of organisational breakdown at call centre level, or in the communication between the call centre and the depots. The lack of response I received prior to escalating the problem to the chief executive officer could have been due to the failure to record or respond to issues logged with Joburg Connect. I would like to know why things were allowed to get to this point. If the JRA had cleared the drain when I first logged a request, none of this would have happened.
“Also, the greater capacity issue is not yet resolved. We will need to see if an engineer actually comes out to do a proper assessment of the structural issues. My insurance company has now cancelled my flood cover as I have had to claim for four major floods in recent years. If this happens again, the JRA will have to foot the bill,” said Ms Cahill.
