Overflowing ditch floods homes
Houses, furniture, boundary walls left damaged
Rains are good for dam levels, but not for Magxaki and Nomzamo residents who frown at the sight of a dark cloud looming.
On Sunday, Nomthandozo Sopazi watched helplessly as her stone boundary wall collapsed after water flooded her yard and almost submerged her entire house.
Sopazi and her neighbours at the Siphingo Circle in Magxaki live in constant terror of the flooding caused by a furrow running next to the area, which overflows when it rains.
The dirty water makes it almost impossible to access the area, flooding the street and the houses.
The cost is an uninhabitable home that could collapse in a heavy storm. “My garage was full of water. The whole back yard was flooded — you could not even get into the house.
“The boundary wall gave in because there was just too much water. I have never seen anything like it,” said Sopazi.
“This is our life. The road is becoming completely eroded.
“Our houses and furniture are damaged and every year it is the same story,” said Ayanda Sali, another resident.
The residents said they had asked the Chris Hani District Municipality to excavate a channel to redirect the running water.
“We have been reporting this furrow. If they could excavate a channel this problem would stop. It does not only affect us, but people in New Vale as well.
“We have asked many times. They said they would prioritise it, but never came,” said Sali.
Meanwhile, it was no better for Nomzamo residents who said their houses had not been built properly.
“I could not even sleep in my house. It was flooding and all I could do was try to save some of my furniture,” said Peli Mqeni.
Phumla Desemele said she had to break open the base of her doorway, which was meant to keep water out, so that the water could run out her house.
The frustrated residents said almost every house in the area got flooded. They blamed the problem on lack of spatial planning and a botched job that had left them living with mops and buckets.
“These houses have no foundation. How can every house completely sink in water when it rains? Some of them even leak.
“Clearly, this was shoddy work and the municipality has to assist us to fix them,” said
Phikolomzi Jaxa. Chris Hani District Municipality spokesperson, Thobeka Mqamelo, said the Magxaki furrow was a storm management issue and the
municipality would liaise with the relevant authority.
“CHDM water services team investigated the matter by visiting the affected site.
“It was discovered that this is
a stormwater management issue and as such the team will liaise with the responsible local municipality, Enoch Mgijima, to jointly find a resolution,” said Mqamelo.
Potholes are becoming a big problem in Komani and residents have had to take up the responsibility of solving the problem.
On Wednesday, a Mlungisi resident raised eyebrows when she placed an old tyre and a chunk of polystyrene over a pothole in the middle of Victoria Road.
Nombulelo “Sis Tsetse” Nqayi said her aim was to save people’s lives. “I thought the pothole could cause a serious accident and witnessed two or three nearcrashes involving schoolchildren recently. I have had enough of the accidents on this road.
“I thought if the municipality does nothing, let me put this white stuff [polystyrene] there so that even at night it is visible.
”I am a caring resident, but I am also very disappointed in the ANC. This road leads to town, I don t know why they patch it This’is a disgrace, it is instead of covering it with tar. embarrassing,” said Nqayi.
Meanwhile, two Victoria Park residents, former teacher Edmond Hartnick and businessman Randall Hykes took it upon themselves to repair the potholes in their community recently.
Hartnick said: “We are only doing this from the goodness of our hearts and are not looking for praise.”
Hykes said certain businesses in town were calling for their help. The duo and their team were seen fixing potholes in New Rest in the scorching sun recently.
Hykes mentioned that they had received donations of sand and cement from community members who acknowledged and appreciated their efforts.
Taxi drivers at the Nonesi Mall taxi rank had firsthand experience of the terrible roads. Olwethu Hinana said driving in Queenstown was like “an extreme sport as the potholes are big”.
Hinana said only Cathcart Road was passable in town, but the faulty traffic lights did not help either.
“I sometimes blame community members for the terrible roads in the location because when they protest they burn tyres on the road and that leaves holes which gradually develop into big potholes,” he said.
Taxi drivers Mabhuti Skiti and Ayabulela Klaas said the road near the Whittlesea taxi rank was also in a bad state.
Parts of Pelem Road were riddled with potholes and they said the road was so bad they were forced to drive on the pavement, a move that attracts the ire of pedestrians and nearby residents who, in turn, sought to block the vehicles by placing rocks on the pavement.
EMLM spokesperson Lonwabo Kowa had not replied to questions by the time of going to print.