Man injured after stepping in open manhole

A pedestrian was lucky to escape with just a sore arm after falling into a manhole near the Carletonville Methodist Church recently. Nicholas Samuels, a resident of Carletonville, told the Herald that he was walking from somewhere at night and almost broke his arm when he fell into the open manhole. It is hardly visible and has been left uncovered for quite some time now, he said. There are no barricades around it, making it very risky for commuters. “The manhole could cause a major mishap if it was to rain heavily,” he said. The municipality says it continually replaces the manhole covers across the municipal area. This does not solve the problem, however, because, as soon as the cover is replaced, it is stolen again and sold as

scrap metal. The municipality is currently in the process of appointing a service provider to provide manhole covers with no scrap value that, hopefully, will not be stolen again. Once the prescribed supply chain processes have been finalised, the process of replacing the manhole covers across the municipal area will unfold, ha municipal spokesperson said.