Cape Town - Residents say this huge sinkhole appeared out of nowhere on Sunday, nearly swallowing a family’s home.
The residents of C84 in Overcome Heights says a small hole turned into “Kimberly se gat” in a matter of hours at their informal settlement along St. Patricks Avenue, in Seawinds.
Johanna Mashaba says they heard a loud bubbling noise early on Sunday morning.
Her husband, Michael Cossa, went to check and saw a small hole right by their car.
Chairperson of the Overcome Heights Housing Forum (OHHF) Fowzia Cassiem says she notified the City of Cape Town at 6:30am on Sunday, but that a team only came out at 5pm to assess the damage, by which time the hole had grown to an “eight-metre wide stinking monster”.
Cossa says it’s the second time a sinkhole, with smelly poo, appeared on the same spot.
When the Daily Voice arrived in Overcome Heights on Monday, workmen were placing planks over the hole.
“We are not happy about the fact that the City is just putting planks over the sinkhole. Last year this happened and they filled the hole with cement and rubble without checking what the problem was. Again, they are just looking for a temporary solution,” Cossa says.
Mashaba, a mother of three kids, was concerned for their safety and says they had to monitor the sinkhole to prevent anyone from getting hurt.
“My youngest child is six-years-old. What if one of my kids had fallen in? The City took the whole day to come out. If this had been a white area, they would’ve come immediately. ”
Cassiem said the City had informed them that it would take two weeks to fix.
The OHHF is also concerned about germs as the exposed sewerage pipe keeps pushing poo water out of the sinkhole.
“This is unhealthy for the children and adults.”
The City confirmed it was aware of the problem, but did not reply to a Daily Voice query by Monday night.