The weekend’s heavy rainfall and a blocked storm drain caused a wholesale shop in Aureus to be partially flooded.
On Monday, 21 November the Herald received a phone call from the concerned store manager, stating that various parts of his shop were under water due to the recent rain.
According to Jakes Modan, manager of Board City Randfontein, this is a recurring problem.
“This is the third time the shop has been flooded, and it’s all due to the same storm drain, which has been blocked for some time.
Although we have brought this problem to the attention of both the municipality and the Mayor’s office, nothing seems to be getting done,” he said.
He said the only storm drain in the street is located right next to his shop, and when it rains the water flows down its natural path into the drain. However, with the drain blocked, the water backs up to a higher than normal level, and runs into his shop.
“The municipality came out once to fix the drain, but it doesn’t seem to have worked,” Jakes continued.
Between the recurring incidents he has tried to prevent the incident from happening again.
“We actually raised the shop’s paving, but it doesn’t help if we do our part but the municipality doesn’t do its share,” he said.
As Board City is a supplier of wooden boards, among other things, the damage is irreparable.
“We’re dealing with wood here,”said Jakes, “which means the damage is crazy. As the wood dries, it swells and it just goes to waste. This is hundreds and thousands of rands worth of damage. It feels like Aureus as a whole has been forgotten about by the municipality.”
Tshidiso Thlaripe, the Executive Mayor’s spokesperson, commented saying, “We acknowledge the situation and the issue will be directed to the relevant department within 48 hours.”
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