Potholes and sinkholes are causing problems nationwide – and not only for motorists. Suburbs in Pretoria have encountered numerous sinkholes recently, while Pietermaritzburg tops the list of Dialdirect Insurance’s pothole claims countrywide.

The state of South Africa’s roads affects many sectors, including tourism. The latest casualty is the Pierre van Ryneveld nature area in Pretoria – a haven for bird lovers and walkers, which has been closed because of an unstable pothole.

Tshwane metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo says they were alerted on Saturday to a sinkhole in Pierre van Ryneveld, a suburb in Centurion. A team of experts was dispatched to assess the area.

“The component responsible for nature conservation within the metropolitan municipality convened geological and geotechnical engineers on-site to assess the developing hole. The hole is located along the eastern boundary of the nature area, bordering Fouche Street,” Mashigo explains.

He says upon the expert’s assessment and calculations done by the team, it was discovered that the sinkhole was about 30m deep and 13m in diameter.

“A decision has since been taken to close the Pierre van Ryneveld nature area to the public until further notice to allow further assessments to be carried out and safeguarding measures to be put in place.

“The sinkhole remains unstable and indications point to it continuing to expand.”

Centurion has recently been affected by an avalanche of sinkholes and potholes, with new ones opening faster than the metro can repair existing ones.

The Nxusani family was recently forced to move out of their Clifton Road, Centurion, home after they were told it was unsafe for them to continue staying there because of their proximity to a 6m sinkhole that had developed following heavy rainfall.

It was only recently that the metro repaired a previous sinkhole in Clifton Road.

In the past months, a sinkhole occurred on the corner of Snake Valley and Paul Kruger roads near the Zwartkop air force base during heavy rainfall. The roads remain closed.

A ‘hole’ lot of problems

Sinkholes, which develop from underneath the surface, are not the only phenomenon responsible for crumbling Pretoria’s tar. Potholes, which start on the surface, create a further road hazard.

Recently, the City of Tshwane reported that it had repaired over 75 000 potholes in the past year.

Dialdirect Insurance announced last week that according to the South African Roads Federation, South Africa has around 25 million potholes – 10  million more than there were five years ago.

The insurer said that most of their pothole claims come from Pietermaritzburg.

“In South Africa, the majority of pothole-related claims come from the cities of Pietermaritzburg (21%), Pretoria (20%), Potchefstroom (17%), Bloemfontein (15%), Johannesburg (14%) and Durban (13%).”