A grandmother’s desperate attempts to have a manhole near her home properly covered have fallen on deaf ears for the past 10 years.
The 54-year-old Gloria Gazi says Tlokwe City Council has simply ignored her pleas.
In April this year, even the North West premier, Supra Mahumapelo promised her, during one of his visits to Ikageng, that the problem would be resolved. To this day, nothing has been done.
Mrs Gazi who resides in Top City says she is con-cerned about the safety of her lively grandchildren, aged 9 and 10. She also fears that one of their friends may fall into it and get hurt.
“You never know when an accident is going to happen,” she says.
The manhole in question has never been fitted with a proper metal cover and is currently secured with a worn, concrete slab that does not cover the hole properly.
“I have reported the problem countless times and have been to the municipal offices several times. I always watch when the children play and try to warn them not to go near the manhole. I would like to know when the council plans to replace that old slab with a metal cover. Does the council really expect me to believe that, in a city as big as Potchefstroom, there is not a single metal cover that they can find to come close this hole near my gate?” she asked. Council spokesperson, Willie Maphosa says Tlokwe’s infrastructure department is apparently not aware of the complaint but has noted that in the picture there is no cover slab or medium- duty lid. He notes that the concrete block only partially covers the manhole in question.
Maphosa says the infrastructure department will send out a team to replace the cover slab within this week.
