Local undertaker gravely concerned after storm damage

Lack of storm water drains leaves business out of pocket.

December 8, 2016

Melissa Hart 2 minutes read

Martin Brits, the owner of Martin’s Funerals, in the room which houses the coffins. The room was flooded after heavy rain, on Monday night.

Coffins, along with everything else, were floating in water when the staff of Martin’s Funerals opened its doors on Tuesday morning.

And now the business, in Victoria Street, in the Germiston CBD, will be out of pocket due to the flood water which raged through the premises, on Monday night, even knocking down one of the boundary walls.

Owner Martin Brits said this is the second time in a matter of weeks that they have had to deal with the office being flooded. However, when the heavens opened on November 9, it was far worse.

“The whole office was full of water. We had just received extra stock of coffins as the manufacturer was due to close and we needed to make sure we had enough coffins for December,” he said. Now coffins are damaged, along with five computers, a photocopier and other items. I estimate the damage to be at least R400 000.”

Brits said they experienced the same situation at their mortuary, which is two properties up the street.

He told the GCN that in the 15 years the business has been in Victoria Street, they have not experienced anything like this and maintains it is due to the fact that the metro recently filled in all the storm water drains along that part of the street.

Brits added that he didn’t know why the metro did this and the one storm water drain which is left is full of pieces of rubble and rubbish, making it useless.

“The water has nowhere to go and even though we have contacted the metro regarding the situation nothing gets done about it,” he said.

The GCN also spoke to a neighbour, Maria Netshithuthuni, who lives next door.

“At about 12.30am we heard a noise and looked outside and saw the wall coming down,” she said. “Then the water just came inside and it was so bad we were waist deep in it.”

Netshithuthuni and her family had to remove all their belongings from their home and are hoping that their electronic items will still be in a working condition.

The GCN asked the metro for comment with regard to the storm water drains in the area and what it was going to do about the issue. However, at the time of going to press no comment had been received.