A stormwater line in Die Wilgers in Pretoria East is being blamed for causing the cave-in of the road surface on Ena and Rossouw Streets.
Local ward councillor Ben Chapman said that after investigations conducted on Tuesday, it was concluded that the sinkhole was not the result of a burst pipe.
“The team has climbed into the stormwater and determined that the stormwater over time has created the sinkhole. The roads department [is] dealing with this.”
Previously Chapman said he, along with metro officials, had completed an inspection at the sinkhole on Tuesday.
“There are three leaks from the 415-mm water pipe, two are next to the [nearby] stream and one is further up on the stream next to the sinkhole which we suspect could have been the cause,” he said.
Chapman was speaking after several videos had been circulating on social media since Monday over the newly formed sinkhole, which has left the roadway compromised.
On Tuesday, the area had been cordoned off with red tape and cones, while Tshwane officials were on site.
There have not been any reports of damage to private property.
The sinkhole was believed to have formed due to an ongoing water leak on a pipe under the road surface, causing erosion.
The Die Wilgers area has been experiencing water outages due to a pipe leak that began in 2019, affecting suburbs in the area of La Montagne, Die Wilgers and Murrayfield.
It is still uncertain when the sinkhole in Die Wilgers will be rehabilitated.
Chapman said the metro would begin work by appointing a service provider.
“Metro teams from the departments of water and roads will begin works of trenching to locate the suspected water leaks.” He said the timeline for the repair work would be known after this trenching phase.
Finance MMC Peter Sutton said earlier in the year that following the approval of the new municipal budget in May, the budget for sinkholes had been decreased from R30 million to about R15 million.
The Tshwane metro had yet to provide comment by the time of publication.
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