Westville resident fears for her safety
Hazel Barlow laments the exorbitant amounts she spent on fixing a problem that continues to pose a danger to her property.
A WESTVILLE resident lives with continuous anxiety as a wall on her property poses a danger to herself and other residents. According to Hazel Barlow, the wall has collapsed three times from the 2022 floods, costing them over R200 000 to fix.
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Explaining the matter, Barlow said that the first time the wall collapsed, it fell up to the boundary with their neighbours above them.
“At the time, we thought the floods alone were responsible and constructed a dry stack wall at a cost of about R80 000.
“In the next heavy rains, the wall collapsed, and it was found that the cause was a blocked stormwater drain running from Queen Elizabeth, bordering our boundary, down to Roberts Place,” she explained.
Barlow said they lodged a complaint to the eThekwini Municipality, and after no response, they had to rebuild again at R45 000 until it collapsed again three months later.
“We then engaged an engineer to design a wall that we hope will withstand more water coming through, but water is unpredictable and dangerous. The third attempt at building the wall cost R140 000. Plus, we have been hounding the municipality to do something and paid Camjet R7 800 to help the municipality locate the problem.
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“The municipality came and had a look several times until July 2023 when an excavator arrived and dug two trenches to expose the stormwater pipes. One was along Queen Elizabeth’s boundary fence, exposing the pipes that are a threat to my home, and one was along the verge outside my neighbour’s house. These trenches were left open for months, posing a danger despite our pleading with the municipality that they were dangerous. Sure enough, a car drove into the Roberts Place trench. Fortunately, without injuries,” she said.
While the trench along Roberts Place has been closed, Barlow is still sitting with a threat to her property. She was told that the pipes would be replaced, and she is still waiting.
The eThekwini Municipality was not available to respond by the time this article was published.
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