Seven homeless after section of house collapses

A NEIGHBOUR recalls the moments a section of a house on Thorn Road in Austerville started collapsing while its occupants were still inside on Monday, 27 June.

Jerome Pearce was at home when he saw his neighbour Joyce Whitcher, aged 70, standing on the top section of her house, watching it crumble to pieces beneath her.

“I ran to her aid, trying to get her to leave the house but she refused. I scooped her up and helped her to safety. She was shaking from shock,” said Pearce.

Whitcher has been living in the house for over 30 years and in a matter of minutes, it was destroyed, leaving seven people homeless. Her son, Alwyn said all this could have been prevented if a problematic burst pipe was fixed sooner. “It’s an ongoing problem in this area and now the water which was gushing out on Monday caused the collapse of the bottom section of the house. My mother had seven people staying in her home and they were inside while the house was collapsing. Luckily everyone escaped unharmed,” he said.

A neighbouring church was also affected by the burst pipe which caused a landslide that blanketed the church grounds and the insides of the church with sand. Reverend Joey Naicker said this is the second time such as incident happened. “I was at home when one of the boys from the road came to tell me the church was flooded. By the time I got here, the water was gushing from the burst pipes and I saw the people trapped in the house. A day before the collapse and the damage to my church, I was calling the municipality to fix the pipes with no luck,” said Rev Naicker. He watched as the gushing water washed away all the grass, causing the sand to become unstable and spill into the church.

The reverend said the municipality sent a machine to remove the sand for one day but it never returned. “We can’t have this situation indefinitely, we need to worship,” said Naicker.

Five departments were called for assistance that day but only the fire department responded. “It is not even their jurisdiction but they sent someone out to close the main and close off the road. All we want is for someone to hear us and give us solutions,” said Pearce.

The neighbours and owner of the houses all expressed dissatisfaction with the municipality. “An investigator from the municipality came to assess the damage but he didn’t want to hear anything. I felt he was rude towards us,” said Pearce. “They (the municipality) won’t send security to protect the home. One of the tenants sat all night on the wall watching the place, protecting it from scavengers,” he added.

Seven people have been left homeless and with no possessions. The Wentworth Angels NPO has stepped in to try help with rehoming them and supplying basics such as food and clothing.

To donate or assist the family, call Tracey Williams on 074-703-1393.

Do you have more information pertaining to this story?
Feel free to let us know by commenting on our facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031 903 2341 and speak to a journalist.

DID YOU KNOW?
Click on the words highlighted in red to read more on this and related topics.
To receive news links via WhatsApp, send an invite to 061 876 3179
The Southlands Sun is also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest – why not join us there?