CONCERNED residents in Masiphumelele fear for the safety of their children after an open manhole had been left uncovered in Lekkerwater Road for three weeks.
This comes as emergency services are still searching for Khayalethu Magadla, 7, who slipped and fell down a manhole in Soweto, Gauteng.
Khayalethu reportedly fell into an uncovered manhole this month in the road where he lived while playing with his friends.
The Star reported on Tuesday that the EMS spokesperson, Robert Mulaudzi, had said the rescue team had covered over 8km of the pipe system believed to be part of the original manhole.
A legal representative added that the open manholes and storm-water drains were “a litigation waiting to happen”.
Businessman Andre van Heerden raised concerns about the uncovered manhole in Lekkerwater Road and tried to report it at the South Peninsula Municipality offices in Plumstead. He has now tried to do so twice, but the first time the security guard would not let him into the office.
He said when he went the office a second time on Wednesday, the person who attended to his complaint instructed him to leave his cell number and expect a call.
Van Heerden said had not received a call yet, nor was he given a reference number.
“We do not want what happened in Gauteng (child falling in the manhole) to happen to our children. They are in danger now,” he said.
Local councillor Patricia Francke said she was aware of the manhole and had since logged a request.
The City of Cape Town hasn’t responded.