Residents of Wedela complain that the municipality is doing nothing to address a huge hole left by one of its contractors.

What should be a calm piece of nature has been turned into a danger zone behind Wedela Ext 4.

Two concerned residents, Lunga Zituta and Mike Mohoza, showed the Herald a massive hole within walking distance of some of the houses.

According to the residents, a contractor who upgraded some of the streets in Ext 4 dug the hole, which is so big that several houses could fit in it, to get gravel in 2024.

“I spoke to the contractor at the time and told him to close the hole. He said that he would do so, but never did,” says Zituta.

He then tried to follow up on the issue with the ward councillor, who also did not assist.

Residents are particularly concerned that children can fall into the hole, as they like to play in the area.

At the time of the Herald’s visit on July 17, several children were relaxing under a tree close to the hole.

According to Zituta and Mohoza, the hole also fills with water when it rains. When it is very hot, children from the area like to swim in the water.

There is, however, a huge danger that one of them may drown as the bottom and sides of the hole are not even, and the sides can even collapse.

The residents complain that the same contractor also damaged some of the yards next to where he was fixing the roads. Neither the contractor nor the municipality assisted these residents.

The Herald took the issues to the Merafong City Local Municipality’s marketing and communications manager, Temba Fezani, but received no feedback by printing time.