Edenvale was yet again brought to a standstill when large volumes of water surged through the town’s stormwater infrastructure.
The heavy rains, on March 5, saw Edenvale’s servitudes filled almost to the bursting point while roads became rivulets bringing cars to a standstill.
Following the heavy rains, Ward 19 Clr Bill Rundle has called for a public meeting to be held.
The meeting will give community members the opportunity to raise their concerns.
“It is time that the residents of the town put on record that the municipality is not providing adequate services to the community.”
Rundle said the meeting will address all service delivery related concerns but will focus on the flood damage.
“Since the 2016 floods nothing has been done by the municipality to address the flood damage, no upgrades have been made,” said Rundle.
With over 50 mm of rain falling in half an hour, the rains renewed fears of a repeat of the November 2016 floods.
Ward 18 Clr Heather Hart believes if the rain had continued for another 30 minutes, the aftermath would have been worse.
She said rainwater from Meadowdale and Tunney areas enter Edenvale from three sources and converges in Eastleigh.
“The Meadowdale and Tunney areas have very little permeable ground left so the water flows straight into Edenvale which cannot cope with the large volumes of water.”
During the rains, Sixth Avenue Bridge was submerged while several roads in Hurlyvale, Highway Gardens, Eastleigh and Harmelia were flooded bringing traffic to a standstill
Even the Glendower Golf Club did not survive the floods unscathed.
Head greenkeeper of the club Mike Burnard said seven of the 18 fairways and greens were flooded by the spruit passing through the course.
Portions of the course including the 13th tee box were eroded
He said Glendower has tried engaging with the municipality to try remedy the situation but has seen little action.
Glendower’s engagement with the municipality stems from its concerns regarding soil erosion of the golf course and the silting up of attenuation dams on the club’s property.
Burnard explained that the courses attenuation dams have become shallower because of the silt and no longer slow water down as initially intended.
“After the 2016 floods we met with representatives from the municipality, Glendower was told that a survey would be conducted but no one came back to us.”
On many occasions, Glendower has had to foot the bill or find a solution to address the flooding.
One of the most recent solutions the club is considering is the widening of the waterway running through the course.
“We understand that it is not a simple problem, the area has been developed and its population has increased. However, very little upgrades were done to accommodate all of this,” said Burnard.
“The stormwater system should be able to cope with the water, but it cannot as it has been over pressurised.”
Burnard said nine years ago the courses waterway handled storms much larger with more rain without having problems.
“We would love to remediate the waterway but we need the support of the council.”
The public meeting is set to be held at Edenvale’s Community Centre on March 14 at 6.30pm
Contact Rundle on 074 111 2488 for more information.
A request for comment was sent to the City of Ekurhuleni on March 7 requesting comment by March 8 at 2pm.
At the time of going to print no comment was received.
