Selwyn Road family remains hopeful
Clr Rundle said he sympathises with the family.
The ward 19 councillor, Clr Bill Rundle, has come out in support of the Alexander family.
The Bedfordview family was badly hit by the November floods in 2016.
They have since had to rebuild their boundary wall which was destroyed by the flooding.
Clr Rundle said he sympathises with the family.
“I visited the home in December where I found absolute chaos. The property was in the process of falling into the river and the desperate home owner, at his own cost, started building a containment wall on his property to try and prevent this,” said Clr Rundle.
He said at the time, there was minimal involvement by the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE).
Clr Rundle said in his efforts to assist the family, he sought help from MMC Clr Robert Mashego, who deployed an official to inspect what had taken place.
“I pointed out to Clr Mashego and the metro officials that the CoE would be hosting the BMW SA Open in the first weeks of January 2017 and that the tournament may be in danger should the problem not be addressed. The broken sewage pipes and the effluent from across the N12 was polluting everything. There was also an issue with equipment moving over the fairways, however after a site visit by all it was agreed that with the agreement of the golf course a machine with rubber wheels would be allowed to access the course via the Glendower Avenue entrance,” said Clr Rundle.
He said the main problem was the lack of maintenance in the water way for over 20 years.
“Also adding to the problem was the fact that the volume capacity of a 90 degree bend had been reduced to less than 20 percent because of silting and debris collecting there,” he said.
Clr Rundle said despite officials agreeing to bring machinery to clear the Glendower Stream, nothing had been done to this day.
“I can confirm as per today [January 19] that the machine never arrived and that the sewage leaks are still there. Only partial repairs were done. The home owner is casting the last of almost 120 tonnes of concrete to finish the wall. Does this sound like a caring metro? Why did officials not follow up?” asked Clr Rundle.
Mr Travers Alexander said his family had spent money to the tune of R1-million to rebuild their wall and make sure the ground is stable and does not collapse.
CoE has since said the municipality is working on an amicable and lasting solution to the matter.
“In the meantime, we have repaired and re-adjusted the alignment of the sewer pipe that was damaged by the collapse of the gabion embankment,” said the spokesperson, Mr Themba Gadebe.
