More homes damaged by recent storm

Germiston was engulfed by another storm last Monday night, which resulted in an avalanche of property damage.

That was also the case for the Halgreen family, who were woken up by the same storm.

“It was around 11pm when I was woken up by thunder, lightning and a slight drizzle,” said Arwen Halgreen.

“My husband Allan also woke up and shortly after, the storm hit and things turned bad.”

“We heard something pop and decided to go check outside, to try and find out what it was – only to find that our wall had collapsed.”

Allan told the GCN that they had just finished rebuilding their wall on December 2.

“The floods that occurred on November 9, also broke down our wall,” he said.

“We claimed from our insurance and when they paid us out, we had a contractor come in to fix the wall.

“It’s barely a week since the erection of the wall and it’s down again.”

The Primrose East couple believe the metro is to blame, for the damage to their property.

The damaged wall is adjacent to the metro-owned Primrose Sports Complex.

“A huge part of the complex isn’t maintained; the trees aren’t pruned; the roots of the trees are putting pressure on the foundation of the wall – and the trunks are leaning over the wall,” said Allan.

Adding to the no-maintenance allegation, Arwen said the complex’s storm water drainage system is poor.

“When there are heavy rains like on Monday night, all the water from the complex gushes into our yard, causing dangerous flooding,” she said.

“The power and force of the water hasn’t only damaged our wall, but our driveway as well.

“We’ve reported the condition of the complex to the metro countless times, but none of our efforts have yielded results.”

The couple also added that they are worried about their and their two daughters’ safety because the untamed field has become an escape route for criminals.

“On numerous occasions, we’ve witnessed people running in that field with what looks like stolen goods,” said Allan.

“We’ve also spotted suspicious-looking men leaning and looking over our wall, from that dangerous part of the field.

“I have sleepless nights because of that wall; I’m worried about the safety of my family.

“I wish the metro would heed our call, for something to be done about the field and our wall.”

At the time of going to press, the GCN had received no comment from the metro.

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