Durban - The Active Citizens Coalition along with members of civil society took it upon themselves to act on a manhole cover left dangerously on the N3 in Westville, and which had been apparently reported several times.
Leader Imtiaz Syed said the manhole cover was a danger to motorists, as it had already nearly caused one of his members to lose control of his vehicle, which could have resulted in a fatal accident.
“This … has been reported several times. I’ve appealed to the municipality to help us have it removed after about five vehicles rode over it,” he said.
“So the municipality once again has failed us; we are here to do it ourselves because that seems like it’s the new normal.”
Syed urged that a video of their efforts be shared and seen by the municipality.
“Show them what communities are currently doing, show them that private civilians are taking to your streets, are removing things and fixing things that should have been done by you guys. I don’t know when this is going to stop, I don’t know how many of these we’re going to have to do.”
He explained that the site on the N3 was one of three they went to at the weekend – closing manholes whose covers had been lifted onto roads.
The team had to fashion a long crowbar-type tool to assist in lifting the manhole cover off the road and then tied it to a bakkie with rope, and pulled it over the open manhole.
“Multiple cars have been avoiding it (the manhole cover), and multiple cars have hit it; just this morning another car lost two tyres. Once again it's like an indictment on our municipality, that we have asked and asked, and nothing got done, so we going to have to do it ourselves,”he said.
Syed and the team also went to Alpine Road where they filled three potholes.
Regarding the video, eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said: “As for the video regarding the residents claiming to be fixing potholes, I am not aware of such an initiative. However, we continue to encourage our residents to report potholes and they would definitely be attended to because the safety of road users will always be our priority.”
Daily News