Hell hole in Oakdene
Langeberg Drive, off Tafelberg Drive in Okadene, has had more than its fair share of problems over the past couple of years, particularly for Tom and Zenobia Plocienniczak, who stay at the bottom of the cul-de-sac.
OAKDENE – “The problem began when the storm water drain burst in the road and the water flooded down onto our drive and under our house. We contacted the municipality and were told the problem would be attended to. The paving of our drive was ruined and a team of workers came out to take a look. One of our reference numbers was: 3160448 and another 8000699522 – 01.03.2102. “The team began to re-pave the driveway but some of the paving bricks needed to be cut so they would fit down the side. The workers said this couldn’t be done because they had no angle grinder! They left and we asked them to please come back with an angle grinder so the job could be finished. Back they came, again with no angle grinder. They said they don’t have one. We were furious and asked to speak to whoever was in charge. This alone is laughable as no-one seems to know who is the manager or in charge of the team!
“Two years later our paving is still not complete and the edges have been left unpaved. Also the some of the paving bricks are a different colour,” said the Plocienniczak’s. Apart from the state of the paving, and with the water constantly running down onto their property, many of the trees roots in their garden are rotted and have died. “One of the trees has already fallen over onto the side of our house and another huge tree at the front, which is totally dead, will be next. Every time there is a strong wind we fear the tree will fall onto our home.
“We also phoned our local ward councillor, Dennis Jane, who said he’d come out and assess the situation. He advised us he’d been out but we never saw him. We waited in all day but he mustn’t have rung the gate bell. How does he expect us to know he’s at our house if he doesn’t ring the bell or phone us?” they asked. Broken line Another problem in Langeberg Drive is the constant lack of telephone signal. The Telkom lines are always falling over. “We are forever without our telephone and internet connection, although we are expected to pay our account!” they said.
“We now sit with dead trees, a disgusting paving job and a lack of telephone signal. We are prepared to fix up the paving ourselves but will want to be reimbursed for the money spent. If contractors who come out to fix problems did the jobs properly in the first place, we wouldn’t have to sit with such nonsense,” the Plocienniczak’s concluded.
