Durban residents are concerned that excavations to repair water pipes in Overport have led to massive holes in roads that have become hazards to motorists.
At the weekend, at least three vehicles landed in large holes on Peter Mokaba (Ridge) Road in Overport. This comes after an incident on Friday where a vehicle landed in a hole on Umbilo Road.
The eThekwini Municipality said yesterday that it was aware of the situation and the matter was being addressed.
Muhammad Vanker, of eThekwini Secure, who attended the scene, said several motorists had their vehicles damaged at the weekend due to the holes in Peter Mokaba Road.
“There was a vehicle that slashed its tyres due to the massive hole here. We have been taking videos and pictures to bring awareness of the situation here.”
Manor Gardens Ratepayers’ Association member Janus Horn said some of the holes on the road had been there for almost a year.
“The road is excavated to stop water leaks and repair water pipes. Unfortunately, we are not sure if it’s poor co-
ordination or poor workmanship that, after repairs, there are still water leaks – and this is leading to these holes remaining there and not being backfilled by the municipality.”
Horn said the large holes placed the lives of motorists at risk.
“There have just been too many car crashes because of the excavations. What we need is for the repairs to water pipes to be done where we don’t have any follow-up leaks.
“We also want all the excavation points to be backfilled.”
Imtiaz Syed, a PR councillor in the area and leader of Active Citizens Movement, said they had 147 water main leaks reported and repaired of which 69 were reported on Peter Mokaba Road alone.
“Peter Mokaba Road in a period of 424 days had 69 leaks, which means there’s a leak and repair in this road every six days on average. The amount of vehicles that have been damaged in this period is uncountable as many happen in the night or morning.”
Syed said residents had been inconvenienced over the past few years without compensation for damage to their vehicles.
“Along Peter Mokaba Road we have had at least six vehicles damaged over the past two days. This is not acceptable at any level. We therefore mobilised a few of the CPF (community policing forum), Active Citizens Movement and eThekwini Secure members to cordon off the area on Sunday.”
Ward 31 councillor Remona Mckenzie said her ward committee was doing all it could to escalate service delivery issues including setting up WhatsApp service delivery groups, with line departments assisting in the escalation process.
“I have tried to set up meetings with the speaker and officials to address these very same issues, and meetings are postponed. Residents lose faith in us because they are sometimes not aware of the challenges we face on the ground and with officials at times.”
Head of communications Lindiwe Khuzwayo said the City was aware of excavation work on Peter Mokaba Road and other roads in the municipal precinct.
“The excavations were a result of digging during repairs to stop water leaks. Over the weekend, municipal teams began to backfill all open excavations to prevent road accidents.”
Khuzwayo said the city manager had reiterated that the necessary corrective action must be taken.
“This includes instances where there has been dereliction of duty with regard to excavations that have been left in an unsafe state.”