Following the tragedy of water knocking down her wall and flooding her home, due to a blocked water channel at the back of her house on Flamink Street, Faith Naicker fears for her family as Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA) still hasn’t fixed the problem.
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The floods damaged the house walls and furniture, with two rooms needing a floor makeover.
Naicker explained that issues started in March 2024, right before they contacted JRA. A few meetings were held with the entity, but there were no solutions. “When it was raining, I kept sending through videos and pictures to the entity, as the water was high. Eventually, on Christmas, the wall came down and water flooded our house.”
She further stated that JRA kept giving them the run around, making promises to send their team, but nothing was done.
Naicker explained that all the water that comes up from Randpark Ridge runs to Hans Schoeman Street, where there is a manhole that directs the water to the water channel, which was then directed into her home.
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They have built a new wall, and have put rocks and sandbags up to try direct the water away from their house. She confirmed that the new wall cost them around R100 000, and it’s an inconvenience that they were put under because of negligence on the part of JRA.
“Unfortunately, the sandbags are not helping because of the force of the water. When it comes high it goes over the sandbag and to the wall. All we need is for JRA to dig up the place, so water can have free access to where it needs to go. We are not asking them to pay for damages because we understand there is no money, but in order for us to stay safe we need them to fix this,” added Naicker.
JRA head of regional operations Khaya Gqibitole admitted that the depot is aware of the matter, and they’re responsible for the maintenance of the storm water open channel along the servitude.
He said that there has been action, but because of the steep slope and vegetation along the servitude, it was difficult for a tractor loader backhoe (TLB) to excavate, for them to gain access to the servitude for regular storm water channel maintenance. Assistance from Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo was requested, to cut down the obstructing trees for the excavator to be able to access the open storm water channel.
“A team from JRA was deployed on site to clear the stubs from the area. Due to the continuous rains we have been experiencing, it became a challenge to have an excavator access the open channel, due to the steep slope and unstable wet ground.”
Gqibitole confirmed that the excavator has started working on the servitude. “The work started at a section with a better gradient, so that the operator can create a way with the excess material to access the lower point.”
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