Leak causes sinking problem for home
Pat Smith said a servitude that is also used as a driveway at her Mount Argus Road home has been badly affected by the leak with some sections beginning to sink in, making the ground unstable.
AN uMgeni Heights resident says she is at her wit’s end in trying to get the eThekwini Municipality to act over what she believes is a sewage leak running under her property.
Pat Smith said a servitude that is also used as a driveway at her Mount Argus Road home has been badly affected by the leak with some sections beginning to sink in, making the ground unstable.
A grassy section that runs between the concrete driveway has also began to sink in prompting fears the servitude and part of a cottage on Smith’s property could collapse.
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Smith said she believes the sinking effect could be because of a burst sewage pipe underground.
“The manhole outside the servitude is connected to the sewer line and I believe there may be an underground leak causing this issue. About four or five years ago we had a similar issue further up the servitude/driveway and when the City came out they discovered a burst pipe had caused the problem.
“However, this issue, which we noticed in May this year, has been reported several times to different departments and I’ve been pushed from pillar to post since then but no one has come to actually fix the issue.
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“We’ve had municipal officials take photos and assure me action would be taken only to find nothing has been done. My major concern is the driveway and my cottage’s foundations giving away and endangering other people’s lives. The cement blocks on the driveway keep coming loose and the ground in the middle has begun to sink in as well. I’m thinking of getting my insurance involved and possibly sorting the problem out myself and then billing the City for the repairs,” she said.
Smith said she was even more concerned as the rainy season approached.
“When the massive storm struck earlier this year, it made the problem worse. Both my husband and I are worried with more heavy rain on the way that the sinking issue could be exacerbated,” she said.
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