Sink-holes worry residents
"This official told us that he doesn't care, even if our tears turned into blood.
Residents of informal settlements in Ward 3, Wesselton are living in fear after sink-holes appeared at their houses.
The newspaper visited a number of these houses where home-owners lashed out at their councillor and the municipality for not taking an interest in their predicament.
The residents had apparently previously erected shacks next to the N11. According to them, the municipality found the informal buildings next to the road dangerous and relocated the occupants to Ward 3.
Four years ago, Ms Emily Zozi noticed flies and crawling insects emerging from behind the kitchen wall unit. After she had moved the furniture, she saw a hole under the cupboards.
Shocked and curious, she lit a piece paper and threw it into the hole, only to see it washed away by water.
A section of her house has also been sinking into the ground.
Ms Zozi said she was forced to quit her work so that she could look after her young children, as it became increasingly dangerous to leave them by themselves or in the care of someone else.
She has since filled up the hole with rocks and sand, but would prefer not to live in the house any longer.
Ms Deli Rijane recently experienced a similar problem, when a hole appeared in front of her kitchen. Wanting to know how deep it was, she placed a pole two metres long into the hole.
It sank without a trace.
She is also worried about the safety of her three-year-old son and neighbours’ children who normally play in her yard.
The residents are angry with their ward councillor who, they say, came to evaluate the situation only once after several attempts to get her to attend to their problem. She has not been there since.
The community also complained about the poor service they received from a municipal official in the squatter control section.
“This official told us that he doesn’t care, even if our tears turned into blood. He said there was nothing they could do and we just had to go back and fill up the holes with soil,” said the group of angry women.
Lucky Dludlu, another resident, said a team from Municipal Disaster Management came to asses the situation and concluded that it was dangerous for the people to continue living in the area. Nothing has come of this assessment.
Msukaligwa municipal spokesman Mr Mandla Zwane said there were about 137 families living in Ward 3 informal settlements.
According to the Municipal Human Settlements Section, they are not aware of the alleged relocation of people from the N12 area to the unserviced area and there is no record of such relocation.
When asked if the area had been a mining area before, Mr Zwane said the municipality could neither confirm nor deny it.
However, a geotechnical investigation needs to be undertaken in order to determine the extent of under-mining.
He added that a request would be made to the Department of Mineral Resources for maps of the extent of underground mining for the whole of Wesselton and Ermelo, if such documents are available.
Mr Zwane said Disaster Management had compiled a report and recommended that the Municipal Human Settlement Department relocate the people to a safer place.
He concluded by saying that the municipality was in consultation with the Provincial Department of Human Settlement to find land or sites serviced for human settlement.
“As a municipality, we hope for a speedy response from the department to avert any possible future disaster. We also sympathise with the families residing on the land.
“The municipality further requests the community not to invade land without the approval of the municipality, as some land is not suitable for human habitation and people may put their lives at risk by doing so,” Mr Zwane said.
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