Councillor Bill Rundle raises concerns over spruit maintenance
“In all instances, the findings were poor. The stormwater system is unmaintained and in poor condition.”
The CoE’s lack of maintenance and improvements has again raised concerns.
Ward 19 Clr Bill Rundle raised concerns after a tour and inspection of the spruit with an Ekurhuleni risk assessment analysis representative from the DEMS.
The November 20 tour panned the entire stormwater system from Dickie Fritz Avenue Bridge to Horwoods Farm.
“We inspected nine bridge facilities needing repairs, existing embankments, gabion structures and the general maintenance of the spruit.”
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Some structures inspected included the Dickie Fritz Avenue, the First Avenue, the Sixth Avenue, the Van Riebeeck Avenue and other bridges.
“In all instances, the findings were poor. The stormwater system is unmaintained and in poor condition.”
Rundle said the spruit flooding is not new, but the municipality does nothing.
“We hope that by inspecting with the risk assessment team, we will get a report highlighting the high risk of the spruit, potential flooding and recommendations.”
Rundle said, fortunately, Edenvale’s Roads and Stormwater Department recently dredged either side of the Sixth Avenue bridge.
“Besides what was done at the Sixth Avenue bridge, there are no indications of maintenance. I have campaigned to improve the stormwater system for 13 of my 14 years as a councillor.”
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He said the floods of November 2016 exacerbated the problem and that the destruction left a deep scar through Edenvale. Residential properties were damaged, businesses destroyed, and lives were lost.
According to Rundle, the emergency funds to rehabilitate Edenvale were reallocated to prioritise other flooding damage in Ekurhuleni at the time.
He said that in 2017, the national government inspected the spruit and confirmed that it needed rehabilitation.
Rundle said that, currently, there are about 34 abandoned industrial buildings along the spruit.
“We visited one of the factories; it was abandoned. One main reason for abandoning the properties was that companies could no longer get insurance.”
In Rundle’s opinion, there has been almost no effort by the city to address the situation.
Besides work on the Central Avenue and Plantation Road bridges, which cost R28m, little else has been repaired or addressed.
“Five years ago, there was a provision in the five-year Integrated Project Delivery budget of R300m for the repair of the spruit. So far, only R28m has been used.
“The budget every year is almost non-existent. The spruit had R4m held over for 2024/2025.”
A request for comment was sent to the city on November 28, requesting comment by November 29 at noon. No reply was received at the time of going to print.
