Residents of the Protea Retirement Village Heuwelsig are furious that no attempts are being made to restore a water leakage underneath the road in Clifton Avenue. According to Desmond Boyes, chairperson of the retirement village’s council, it seemed a pipe burst under the road’s surface, resulting in water surfacing and forming a stream.
“In this residential area where sinkholes are prominent, water leakages should be repaired as soon as possible,” Boyes said. “The next thing we know there will be a huge sinkhole in front of our main entrance. This will force us to open another entrance on our own account,” the deputy chairperson, Duncan Haigh, said.
“It is of the utmost importance that this matter is resolved to prevent any damages that will cost the Tshwane metro more money,” Boyes added. According to Ward Councillor Dr Clive Napier, he received a response from a senior official from the Tshwane metro who was in charge of water leakages. The message stated that the matter would be attended to urgently, but that the standby teams were busy with other serious pipe bursts, Napier said.
“This is really an unacceptably long wait. One does understand that there are other priorities, but four days is too long,” he said. Napier’s concern was that Centurion was a sinkhole-prone area and a quick response to water leaks was necessary.
“There are already 14 sinkholes in Centurion in need of repair and a very limited budget,” Napier confirmed.
A sinkhole has already occurred further down in Clifton Avenue.
Boyes also said that he had noticed the road starting to subside.
A Tshwane metro official visited the site on Tuesday afternoon. He took photos to investigate the matter.
