Home caving in due to underground leaks

A PORT Elizabeth couple are at their wits’ end with the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, as they watch their home slowly deteriorate over the years due to two water pipes.

And while Leon Wolmarans, 64, and his wife Leonie, 55, insist it is a municipal issue, the municipality says it has nothing to do with them.

When the Wolmaranses bought the Nantes Road house in Westering 16 years ago, they thought it would be their dream home.

But water from two pipes have since left their lounge, a bedroom and large section of their garage caved in.

Tiles on the floor of the lounge and verandah are also cracking.

“One of these days, this house will collapse. My husband constantly coughs due to the wet condition in the house,” Leonie said.

One of the pipes is from the nearby Linton Grange Water Treatment Works. The pipe spews backwash water into a large ditch that runs across their property.

The second is a leaking pipe underneath their home that discharges water into their garden.

This is causing the most problems, according to Leonie.

Municipal spokesman Mthubanzi Mniki said the metro was aware of only one of the pipes causing problems.

“We assisted the owner in 2012 as a once-off. We are not aware of a water leak [under the house]. If the water leak is inside a person’s property, it is the responsibility of the owner to fix it,” he said.

Mniki urged the couple to contact the relevant directorate about the water from the water treatment works.

Loenie said the “assistance” in 2012 was the municipality wanting to just redirect the water from the water treatment works.

“But it did not work because the water is still going through the property,” she said.

Now, the couple are contemplating legal action against the municipality as they claim thousands of rands’ worth of damage has been done.

“It has been a nightmare and is very frustrating. When you walk on the floor wearing socks they become wet,” she said.

Every time she speaks to a municipal official, excuses were just made, Leonie said. “They simply just pass the buck.”

Pictures: JUDY DE VEGA WATER DAMAGE: Leonie Wolmarans stands above the pipe which discharges water under her property in Westering and over the flooded swimming pool