‘Sinkhole’ in eMbalenhle is fixed says Govan Mbeki Municipality
The Mahlangus want the municipality to assure them of their safety and that their house will not suddenly collapse.
A sinkhole on a residential stand in Ext 17 eMbalenhle was filled up, but the family living there still have concerns.
The sinkhole began as a small hole near the sewer manhole in the Mahlangu family’s yard two months ago, but it quickly widened to a much larger hole.
Thoko Mahlangu told Ridge Times at the time they feared a child might fall into the hole or that their house would collapse. The Govan Mbeki Municipality (GMM) hired a contractor to fix the problem.
The contractor excavated the hole up to the wall slabs of the Mahlangu self-made house. This led to more ground movement, and the family had to remove part of the concrete slabs. The excavation turned the sinkhole into a large and deep dig site.
This was eventually filled with soil to stabilise the ground, but according to Mahlangu, her family is worried the sinkhole will return.
“We noticed while the excavation was in progress, other areas which had not been excavated also began to crumble,” she explained.
They doubt if the contractor solved the problem.
“We saw the house windows were sliding out of place and the trench kept widening in spots where their excavation work was not done.
“We also saw a sewer manhole collapsed into the excavated hole without being touched,” Mahlangu told Ridge Times last week.
“We now wonder why the municipality put two sewer manholes in our yard. We also want to know what caused the hole and its widening.”
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The Mahlangus want the municipality to assure them of their safety and that their house will not suddenly collapse.
Donald Green, the acting communications manager at GMM, said they were still uncertain what caused the sinkhole.
He stated a sewer line manhole was not the cause. Green said the municipality has backfilled and compacted the area.
“The municipality will monitor the quality of work done and we also encourage residents not to deposit foreign objects into the sewer system,” said Green.
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