EARL Haig Road in Morningside has been a thorn in the side of residents, concerned councillors and the eThekwini Municipality since sinkholes developed on the road in May of 2022. The damage was repaired by the Municipality in July of 2022, but just a year later, the sinkholes returned in 2023, causing a major safety hazard for Morningside residents and road users.
According to Ward 27 councillor Ernest Smith the road is in shambles due to structural instability, “The burst water pipe that ruptured at the top has caused so many structural issues in this road. Due to how steep the road is, the base layers of the road were eroded away during the leak, and bursts that followed resulted in lengthy undermining of the road.”
Also read: UPDATE: Earl Haig sinkholes caused by water-pipe leak
Smith said an urgent application to speed the repairs along called a ‘Section 36’ was submitted. “The Section 36 speeds up the supply chain management process to ensure that money is allocated to the project in a shorter amount of time, due to the urgency of the problem. I was informed that the Section 36 has been put through to the City Manager’s office.”
Smith says the initial repairs cost millions and because of poor planning and insufficient repairs, the City will need millions to repair the extensive damage. However Smith has confirmed that he has corresponded with the Municipality recently and a City official has confirmed that he is aware of the issues on Earl Haig Road and the matter will be prioritised soon.
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Morningside resident Nafisa Ballim said the damaged and neglected state of the road has encouraged other residents to illegally dump items near the top of Earl Haig Road, where the most damage has occurred. “The Municipality staff does not clean the vegetation, litter and debris, when people from the Municipality do come, they do not come often at all and then for the past month, no one has come to clear the road.”
“People are coming here and dumping their refuse, because they can see this is a space that is not being utilised, there have been rats in our yard lately, that is something we had never experienced before but they are being drawn by the level of dirt,” said Ballim.
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