Durban - Durban motorist are spending tens of thousands of rand to repair cars damaged by unprotected holes in city roads.
On Wednesday a motorist was left counting the cost after his car hit excavations in Edith Benson Crescent (above the Botanic Gardens), bursting a tyre and damaging two rims on his upmarket car.
“How much is this going to cost, again?” asked Ross Daykin, 33.
He said damage caused to his car by potholes in two incidents in Kloof in the past year had already cost him more than R20 000 for repairs.
He estimated that Wednesday’s damage would run to R30 000 - and he planned to claim it from the eThekwini Municipality.
Daykin and Roger Day, both of Kloof and co-owners of Airwave, an IT business, were on their way to a client, driving north, when they hit the excavation in Edith Benson Crescent.
As they came around a corner and crested a rise, Daykin’s Audi S5 fell into the hole.
It is one of four between St Thomas Road and John Zikhali (Sydenham) Road, left by the municipality’s water department.
The holes, which extend across much of the north-bound lane, have been partly filled with gravel, but have not been tarred, forcing motorists to take evasive action, swerving towards the solid centre line.
There were no warning signs or barriers in place when the Daily News visited the scene on Wednesday morning.
“The force of the impact broke the front rim in half and buckled the rear one,” said Daykin.
The municipality’s acting deputy head of roads and stormwater, Shan Govender, said he was aware of the four “patches” carved into the road.
“Water department has to own to it as it resulted after one of their operations,” said Govender.
Meanwhile, a giant hole in South Coast Road, near the busy intersection with Solomon Mahlangu (Edwin Swales VC) Drive, has been described as an accident waiting to happen, by the manager of a nearby tyre fitment centre.
The hole, which is believed to be a damaged and uncovered Telkom manhole, has not been cordoned off, but a good Samaritan has put a big rubbish bin in it, making it more visible.
Benson Marlon of Rossburgh HI-Q, who said he did a brisk trade in tyres thanks to the city’s many potholes, said he alerted the eThekwini road department to the massive hole about three weeks ago.
“They said it was a burst pipe. They fixed and re-tarred, but within a day it had collapsed. I called the roads department, but to my surprise nobody bothered to come and assess the hole,” he said.
Marlon added he had noticed a steady increase in damaged car tyres and rims caused by potholes in the past year.
“Generally, on average we receive about at least one damaged car a day.
“The damage could cost owners thousands of rands to fix because it’s not only the tyre and rim that need to be changed - one also needs to look at wheel alignment and suspension,” he said. Govender said the hole was a Telkom manhole.
“We have spoken to Telkom and they have promised to fix it as soon as possible. I met Telkom officials on site. They agreed to do all related work on this road, “ Govender said.
National Telkom spokesman Pynee Chetty could not confirm this yesterday and asked for time to investigate.
Govender said the municipality’s pothole-watch team had been working around the clock to identify and fix potholes within three days of their being reported.
“Most complaints by road users emanate from holes not covered after excavations undertaken during emergencies by other departments such as water and electricity,” said Govender.
In another incident, furious Durban resident Marco Accolla said he was still waiting for a response from the municipality after he submitted a claim for damage caused by a hole two months ago.
He said barely a week passed without the municipality requesting more quotes or paperwork. But all he had received from the roads and insurance department so far was a reference number.
“My claim totals approximately R45 000 for two Mercedes-Benz S class AMG rims (imported from the UK). It took me two months to save for the rims, but now they have just disappeared because eThekwini fails to properly maintain roads. I am also aware of my attorney, who also suffered damage to his SLK AMG rims.
“My pothole in Musgrave Road was 15cm deep. I took a photo with a ruler placed inside it,” said Accolla.
Accolla’s mother, Olga Accolla, also has an outstanding claim with the municipality after her car hit an excavated patch in Peter Mokaba (Ridge) Road in April, causing nearly R2 000 in damage to a tyre and rim.
Accolla was travelling northwards near Silverton Road when she hit the 2mx0.8m hole left after excavations.
She said there were no signs warning of a hole in the road.
Roads department official Michel Camoin confirmed the size of the hole and said it was on a Metro Water patch in the road outside No 123 Peter Mokaba Road.
Daily News