Houses to be repaired
Tshwane metro said a contractor had started repairing cracks and falling walls from the RDP houses in Elandspoort last week.
Tshwane metro has started repairing cracked and unstable walls and leaking geysers at the RDP houses in Elandspoort. Tshwane metro’s Lindela Mashigo said a contractor had been instructed to start repairs on leaking geysers and erect screen walls as from last week Tuesday.
“It was noted that there are only ten of the 110 housing units whose doors open towards each other and thus needed screen walls to provide ‘privacy’ between two neighbours,” Mashigo said.
He said the screen walls were constructed after the main houses had been built. Therefore the screen walls were not fixed as part of the house construction, resulting in screen walls pulling away from the main structure.
Residents previously raised concerns about the toppling walls between their houses and cracked walls inside their houses. An RDP resident, Sandra Nel has complained on several occasions about a wall on the verge of falling over in her house. “I have complained about the wall. My problem is what will happen if the wall falls on someone? Who will be held accountable?” asked Nel.
Geysers and walls in some of the homes have not yet been fixed and residents claimed they have not seen anyone in the area fixing anything since last week.
Mashigo said there were hairline cracks on the screen walls. He said GIBB PRT engineering company consulted a few beneficiaries who indicated that, according to their understanding, any hairline crack on the main house structure will eventually result in a crack like those in the screen walls.
“There is no merit in this assumption by the beneficiaries as all the main housing units are structurally sound and in good condition, though some have normal hairline cracks on the plaster,” said Mashigo.
Lena Mamabolo said the cracks in her house were not hairline cracks. Part of a wall has cracked a lot and could fall over at any time.
“No one has said anything about the cracks in my house where the roof joins the structure. I am afraid that the top of my house will fall over and the roof could come down too,” said Mamabolo.
Mashigo said they were only aware of one geyser dripping from the overflow pipe because it had a faulty valve. Residents have said there were more than just one house with this problem.
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