Tomahawk Borehole Drilling workers sink a borehole in Meyerton. Demand has increased as municipalities fail to supply adequate water. Picture: Michel Bega
Two millennia ago, the great Roman scholar and leader Pliny the Elder opined that there was always something new coming out of Africa. It’s unlikely that he had someone drilling through a railway tunnel to create a borehole on his bingo card.
But that’s what happened last week.
Apart from the people at Gautrain, who have had an understandable sense of humour failure, the story has been consigned to the archives as the news caravan steams on across new vistas of shock and awe, much of it orange from the White House.
The Gautrain service between Rosebank and Park Station had to be suspended until yesterday because of soil and water that poured onto the lines.
Apparently, it will cost R1 million to plug the hole.
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One of the hallmarks of South Africans’ legendary tendency to make a plan when all else fails has been the rash of solar panels because of Eskom. When the water supply started drying up, there was a rush to drill in the backyards.
But apart from buggering up the water table by sucking it dry and shafting everyone else, there’s also the possibility of drilling into sewer mains or tapping into Johannesburg’s acid mine drainage.
Just because we can, doesn’t meant we should. Unregulated drilling should be right at the top, despite the bravado from some suburban WhatsApp groups bridling at any suggestion of regulation. The same applies to illegal building planning and electrical connections.
The problem is that the City of Joburg has been the site of some particularly feral political infighting, paralysing what does work and hollowing what’s left with a toxic mix of cadre deployment and tenderpreneurism, creating a bit of a free-for-all.
We might not be able to fix Rome in a day, but holding people accountable is the only way to turn this situation around.
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A good start would be if Gautrain’s lawyers literally follow the hole back to the offending back garden and sue the householder and the drilling company.
As the old Afrikaans saying reminds us: “If you refuse to listen, then you must feel [the consequences].”
Perhaps the city can apply the same principle to all the drivers who plough into street lights and traffic lights, too?
A civil damages suit for them and their insurers will probably be quicker and more effective than a criminal conviction – it might even stop people drinking and driving.
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