GLENWOOD residents and motorists driving along Che Guevara (Moore) Road on Tuesday morning were in for lengthy traffic delays on the busy road where a sinkhole developed overnight.
According to a resident at the Newton Place cul-de-sac, Dalone Jansen, he went across the road to buy pizza between 9 and 10pm and there was no sign of the sinkhole. “It was fine when I came home last night so it must have happened in the middle of the night. There was complete chaos this morning when people were trying to get out of our road to get to work. I’m lucky, I’m waiting for a ride to work so wasn’t affected,” he said.
About 7.30am all the cars on the tiny one-way-road were backed up. “Drivers were very scared, stressed and afraid their cars would fall in. We are lucky it stopped there and didn’t continue. It makes us question the foundation of the road, it’s so weak, a car could have fallen in if it was passing when the sinkhole began,” Jansen added.
Another resident of the area, Estelle Hughes, recalled hearing a “bang” and explosion before realising that a water pipe had burst and water started gushing. She said they had no water for most of the day, but the water department had worked through the night to ensure it was fixed. “Kudos to the team, the municipality and water department always get bad mouthed for not doing the job, but this time they deserve a pat on the back!”
Ward councillor for Glenwood, Mmabatho Tembe, said she was glad the Water Department had arrived early and worked quickly and efficiently to get the job done. “There has also been a history of sinkhole’s in Glenwood not being filled once the job is done so I’m glad it was properly fixed,” she added.