President visits flood-hit Amanzimtoti

South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa and eThekwini Municipality mayor, Zandile Gumede paid the disaster area at Rockview Road in Amanzimtoti a visit on Wednesday morning, 24 April.

The president and ministers were taken on a tour of the sinkhole and met the occupants of 45 Rockview Road who lost their house when the bank eroded after Monday night and Tuesday morning’s deluge.

The president addressed the media and said he was informed of the disaster in KZN while on a trip to Egypt. “We needed to come and see the disaster and offer our condolences to the families who suffered in this terrible disaster. I commend our rescue services at a national and provincial level for the work they did and our hearts go out to all the families affected.”

Ward 97 councillor, Andre Beetge was bemused at the interest it has attracted. “It could possibly be due to the run-up of elections,” he said. “Number 45 Rockview Road has been condemned and the fate of number 47 is still to be decided. About 60% of the platform is currently stable.”

READ ALSO: Weather sees house collapse, road wash away in Rockview Road, Amanzimtoti

Cllr Beetge said the first step for council to do is to appoint a contractor to stablise the environment, so that no further erosion takes place or damage to the road. “This will be done relatively quickly.”

The second step is for council to register the project as an emergency with regards to section 36 of the Municipality Financial management Act, which will allow for a speedy appointment of a contractor to repair the bank.

“City manager, Sipho Nzuza was on site today (Wednesday) and was briefed by myself, the deputy manager of stormwater, head of engineering and the stormwater management engineer. All of them were in agreement that the site needs to receive immediate attention.”

A contractor was already on site at about 10.30am on Wednesday to do camera surveillance on the existing stormwater infrastructure from both the Rockview Road divit and at the bottom of the bank. “This effort will guide the course of action taken.

READ ALSO: Wave of litter washes onto Amanzimtoti coastline after heavy downpour

In observation, number 43 and 49 Rockview Road remain stable, without fear of collapse. However, we ask people to refrain from going too near the hole and rather remain 20m to 30m from it, as the ground is unstable and it could collapse at anytime.”

As Rockview Road is one of the main arterial routes in Amanzimtoti, Cllr Beetge has requested a temporary thoroughfare to be made from Rockview to Kingsway. “In the meantime use Queen’s Terrace and School Road, but remember to add time to your journey to allow for extra traffic on the school route.

Rockview Road was the biggest damage in Toti and the previous storm-damaged areas such as Dick King Place, Winkle Ski-Boat Club ramp and the stormwater infrastructure at Hutchison Park, which was done by Leomat, remained stable.

There are still pockets of mud to be cleaned in and around Toti in the coming days.”Email any storm damage to e-services@durban.gov.za and retain a record for follow-up purposes. For more information, call Cllr Beetge on 082-718-8137.

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