Fourways resident’s five-year flooding nightmare
Resident says the JRA has made promises for over five years and he is still suffering.
A resident of Fourways has been complaining for the longest of time regarding the state of Dennis Road which during heavy rainfall floods his home and on a normal day is filled with potholes.
After lodging calls for more than four years, Glenn Smith is fed up because no one listens and he is the one to suffer.
“I have been residing in this home for 15 years. I have always had a problem with flooding because the road does not have stormwater drainage,” he said. He said the issue was previously not a concern because it was all open land and the ground could absorb the water. However, since the development of the area where many estates are being erected, the infrastructure does not allow water to flow freely. This causes massive destruction to his home as the water flows into it and flooding it.
His house is on a farm road and is located downhill. “I have had insurance claims and one was over R100 000. I had to replace almost everything in my house. The JRA has been failing me and I am honestly very disappointed.” The issues he raised during the floods are the damage caused in his house, his garden being flooded, rubbish and clay mud all going into his pool which takes him three to four months to clean. According to Ward 93 councillor Vino Reddy, several drainage inlets were installed but there is no drain for the water. “What is the point of these inlets if there is no drain for the water.”
Smith said, “What they did here is useless and a waste of money. Why are they doing a half job? If they put a drain where all this water can go we would not have this problem. The state of the whole road needs to be fixed because during heavy rainfall, the rubbish floats to my gate and my home looks very dirty. I really do not know what else to do.” When it starts raining, Smith and his family try to cover the door with sandbags to try and divert the water.
Smith is asking for help from anyone willing to take a stand. “May we please be assisted. My home is in dire need of help. I have a pretty home but with these floods, I never see that. May someone please take accountability and start fixing the state of the road as a whole. I am now pleading for assistance.”
Reddy said the whole road needs to be profiled, resurfaced and kerbed with stormwater drainage to help this home. “I was with Vusi Radebe from the JRA who came to see the state of the road. They started filling in the potholes,” Smith argued that it is a week later and they have disappeared like they always do. “Promises have been made for five years but we are still in the same place. This road gets so flooded we can barely see the tar road,” said Smith.
Everything has been tried to bring people on board to fix the road but it is becoming worse every year. According to Reddy, he has tried his best to put some attention on this road. He has asked multiple people to help with the road but people will show up and work for a few days and then disappear. “I am honestly disappointed that I have brought this up multiple times and a resident in my ward still has to suffer. This matter should be taken seriously and this road should be fixed.” He said the road is very well known and is used by trucks and taxis because it does not have a speed bump. “After fixing the road may it have speed bumps so we don’t have maniacs driving down at a high speed. It is dangerous.”
Spokesperson of the JRA, Bertha Peters-Scheepers was contacted on February 29, and March 3, for comment but she had not replied by the time of going to print on March 4.
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