Northmead resident and local business owner Karen Jones and her husband, Darryl, are appalled by what they claim is a lack of accountability from the Ekurhuleni metro concerning stormwater drain maintenance.
According to the couple, who have acknowledged their property in 10th Avenue is low-lying, said the drains not being cleaned out regularly have resulted in the flooding of their property on more than one occasion recently.
The recent heavy rains were a contributing factor to the flooding.
When the Ekurhuleni metro did go to the property, a bundle of magazines, dated from February last year were apparently found inside one of the drains.
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“We have lived here for over 20 years and while we have been flooded-in over several years, the most recent flooding, which was more severe, is owed to pure negligence,” said the couple.
“In the previous decade, the drains were cleaned out just after the winter and before the new rains would come in.
“This was done by the Ekurhuleni metro and avoided severe flooding.
“However, in recent years, there has been a lack of maintenance.
“This time, it was like a river flowing at the side of the house and my business, which is on the same property, which was also affected.
“We pay rates and taxes to the value of between R45 000 to R50 000 per year and that’s just us, surely they would be able to do their job.
“We had flooding on December 10 and 22, and again on January 3.
“During this time and prior to this, we had contacted the council and sought help.
“In recent times, we also contacted the ward councillor, Jacques Meiring, but received very little help from him.
“January 3 was the worst of the flooding and we got told by the councillor, “stop calling me. I’m busy with a power outage” while my house was going underwater.
“The councillor had also contacted the incorrect department initially and this further delayed the recovery process.
“Luckily, we had help from local CPF members who came over to help us clear and clean up the mess.
“We recently had our pool done up and now we had to drain it all over again because the water from the flood covered everything.
“The back house, where our helper resides, needs to be done up completely now because everything was affected by the flood.”
The City Times has contacted the Ekurhuleni metro and Ward 27 Clr Jacques Meiring for comment.
No response was received at the time of going to print.
