Trauma after sinkhole drama

These are the words of Ms Tebogo Magodielo, whose father, Mr Oukali Magodielo, fell into a sinkhole late Monday afternoon. For him, the worst fear of anyone living on the dolomitic ground had come true.
Tebogo says she and her father were walking next to their yard at 756 Kayalethu next to the Khutsong West Clinic just before 18:00 when the ground suddenly collapsed under them.
Her father, who works for the Merafong City Local Municipality, fell into the sinkhole, and Tebogo had to run to get help.
Other residents, the police and emergency services personnel were soon at the scene.
It took about an hour to get her father out of the sinkhole. He was taken to the clinic, where staff determined that he had luckily not broken any bones. However, he did injure muscles in his legs and feet.
According to Ms Magodielo, the emotional trauma they suffered is almost worse than her father’s physical injuries.
“We can’t even think or sleep,” she says.
The family is also worried about their house, which has become unsafe after the sinkhole collapsed next to it.
They are still not sure what will happen to them.
The following morning, another drama played out at the same sinkhole when an unfortunate dog called “Danger” fell into it.
According to the chairperson of the governing body of the Carletonville SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), Mr Piet Groenewald, the community called them to the scene at approximately 09:00. By then, the sinkhole was four to five metres deep.
The SPCA called the regional commander of emergency services in the West Rand, Bongani Momoza, who organised for firefighters to attend the scene. In the end, however, an employee of the Carletonville SPCA, Mr John Magazi, emerged as the hero of the day when he went in to get Danger out.
“There were loud cheers when John came out of the sinkhole with her,” says Ms Carla Sutherland, an SPCA inspector who helped with the rescue.
Danger had been in the sinkhole for over four hours. Unfortunately, she suffered several fractures during her fall.
The community was furious after the two incidents and demanded that the municipality steps up its action to attend to the sinkhole problems in Khutsong.
As a result, members of the Merafong Dolomite Risk and Vulnerability Community Support Group (MDRVCSG) staged a sit-in at the municipal offices in Carletonville on Wednesday, 15 February.
According to Mr Andre Marx, who has been involved in emergency services in our area for decades, the last and only time a human had fallen into a sinkhole occurred in the late 1990s when an elderly sight-impaired man had to be rescued from a sinkhole near East Driefontein. However, several animals, especially dogs and cattle, fell into sinkholes over the same period.
The municipality says a service provider has already been appointed to rehabilitate the sinkhole. They will also secure it better.