Pretoria - A huge sinkhole in Centurion has not only left residents and businesses out in the cold, it has also attracted thieves.
They have since moved in and stolen what they can lay their hands on while structural damage worsens.
The damage to two residential houses in Lyttelton Manor started in November last year, leaving them unstable and sinking into the ground.The walls have cracked and are breaking down.
The trouble started when a burst sewage pipe leaked water into the area’s dolomitic rock.
As it eroded, the structures started collapsing. The sinkhole damaged not only the house but the road, which had to be cordoned off, forcing a neighbouring security business to also abandon their property.
With the City of Tshwane having declared the area unsafe for occupation, the families relocated.
However, thieves have been seen stealing from the ruins, taking anything they can find, including door handles and other resalable items.
Affected resident Elvis Mathaba said he lost his retirement home and was forced to relocate to Pretoria West, where he is renting a property.
He said he was still waiting on insurance to pay for the damage to his home.
Mathaba said this period had been hard for the family. “No one wants to find themselves homeless after they had a place to call home,” he said.
By yesterday both houses were falling deeper into the hole and the City of Tshwane had not started on any repair work, citing budget constraints.
Residents in the area fear the houses will eventually get swallowed by the earth, and the exposed pipe along the properties could become damaged, resulting in water interruptions.
Meanwhile, a new sinkhole appeared in Main Road in Irene, Centurion, and has forced the Department of Roads and Transport to close the road and redirect traffic.
Spokesperson for the department Melitah Madiba said they were rehabilitating the road in order to make it safe for the public again. Madiba said they were appointing a service provider.
Spokesperson for the City of Tshwane Lindela Mashigo said there were 48 sinkholes on its list awaiting repairs, excluding two on provincial roads, Wierda Road and Main Road in Irene.
He explained that the process to rehabilitate sinkholes may take a while because it involved site securing, diversion and/or protection of affected services, geotechnical investigation, preparation of rehabilitation design or method, obtaining a suitable contractor for the individual rehabilitation method and establishing whether a specialised contractor is required. The actual rehabilitation process would then commence.
“It does occur that during excavation or repair on part of a sinkhole, other soil instability on what was below ground is encountered and needs to be attended to,” said Mashigo.
Pretoria News