Residents of Khutsong Ext. 3 are complaining that the area around Hlanganani Primary School is being affected by an increasing number of sinkholes.
This particular area has had many sinkholes in the past few years, many of which were attributed to problems with municipal infrastructure. The sewage line opposite the school has had to be rebuilt three times in the last ten years because sinkholes had formed after sewage leaks.
About two years ago, two sinkholes also appeared on the side of the road to the school. When the Herald and community members visited the site on Monday, these two sinkholes had still not been filled up and, in fact, seemed to be getting bigger. Despite being close to the school, they have not been cordoned off.
‘Naughty children sometimes play in these holes; this one is apparently connected to a cave. When I see them, I chase them out because it is incredibly dangerous and they could easily get killed,’ said Chucku Kerileng, a concerned community leader.
Just a few metres further, a new sinkhole has formed, about a metre from the surface of the road to the school. Although there was already a small hole in the ground towards the end of last year, nothing was done about it.
In one place, a few metres from this hole, the ground also seems to be sagging, pointing to the formation of a doline that could become yet another sinkhole.
A bit further into the veld, a sinkhole that has caved in on a municipal sewage line has become much bigger. It is now so big that it has swallowed one of the anchor poles of the fence that was erected when it formed in October last year. Large cracks in the ground around the sinkhole are evidence that it is soon going to get even bigger.
Besides the fact that nothing has been done about these sinkholes, large amounts of sewage continue to leak into the veld next to the school which can, in turn, result in even more sinkholes forming.
The road to the school, which is almost brand new, still cannot be used because a part of it collapsed in June last year, within a month of it being completed. Because no repairs have been done on the road, it continues to collapse, bit by bit. It is also causing further damage to a storm water canal that the municipality built about two
years ago but has never used.
‘The municipality is throwing millions of rands away by not doing anything to repair this infrastructure. Why did they build it in the first place?’ Kerileng and other residents complained.
The Herald took the community’s concerns to the Merafong City Local Municipality on Tuesday.
The municipal spokesperson said geologists have assessed all the existing sinkholes in Khutsong township and have issued recommendations accordingly.
‘The municipality has to implement these recommendations in the rehabilitation
of the craters. Because the implementation comes at such a high cost, we have made several submissions to government spheres that deal with disaster to assist us.
‘The provincial government has since carried out inspections and we now have to wait for their own processes to unfold,’ he said.
‘The rehabilitation of the sinkholes will, therefore, be executed as and when we receive the necessary financial assistance.
‘The sinkholes are barricaded, at a cost, immediately after they have formed.
But we have a challenge with the community constantly removing these barricades. However, the municipality will look into replacing them in the affected areas,’ the spokesperson explained.
‘The repairs on the road to Hlanganani have been linked with the project that is due to be implemented in this financial year. As soon as the project commences, the repairs will be done.’
