Sinkholes: Centurion disaster affected citizens

A number of roads have been closed in Centurion due to sinkholes more than a metre deep. Main Road in the area has been closed after a small sinkhole deepened and damaged more of the road. Now a whole section of the road has caved in.

Irene councillor Gert Visser said residents should use Nellmapius Road, John Vorster Road and Olievenhoutbosch Road to avoid the road closure on Main Road in Irene.

Visser said about 20 000 vehicle used Main Road daily. “This is not a sinkhole. It is regarded as road substance damage because it was caused by the storm water drainage,” he said.

Maintenance

Visser said the storm water system was likely blocked due to a lack of maintenance. “Last year they repaired the water leak where the hole had formed,” he said.

Ekurhuleni councillor Derek Thomson said the sinkhole affected the residents in his area travelling from Midstream to Centurion or from Irene to Olifantsfontein.

“The residents have to take a long deviation to get to work. It has a profound effect on them,” he said. Thomson said because the sinkhole was on a provincial road, it was anyone’s guess when it would be repaired.

Further, down Clifton Road, the street was closed off due to a sinkhole that had collapsed a section of the road along with two houses.

NOW READ: IN PICS: Road barricaded after massive Centurion sinkhole forms

‘Worry’

Koos van der Merwe lives close to the sinkhole said he was worried about his property. “We have been living here since 1979. Luckily we haven’t noticed any damage to our property,” he said. Van der Merwe said it started as a small hole and damaged two houses in months.

“One Sunday, we noticed the water pressure dipping. When we went outside, we saw a group of people where the three-metre sinkhole had formed,” he explained.

Van der Merwe said one house was unoccupied at the time. “The other people vacated their house, and just as well, look at the house now,” he said.

Van der Merwe said Monument Avenue was also affected by sinkholes. Valhalla councillor Ina Strijdom said the sinkholes in various places in Centurion were getting bigger by the day as the heavy rain continued this summer.

Snake Valley Road, which is in her ward, has been closed since last month because of a sinkhole. “The Snake Valley Road sinkhole is in a military area and thus is the responsibility of the department of public works,” she said.

No response

Strijdom said the City of Tshwane’s geologists had contacted the department numerous times. “To date, they have not received any feedback from the department of public works.

“We are unable to give any feedback as to the status of repairs,” she said. Strijdom said she had approached Gauteng Provincial Roads to look into ways of assisting with the traffic flow on Old Johannesburg Road near the sinkhole, which was causing big problems for commuters in and out of Valhalla.

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– marizkac@citizen.co.za