We live near death traps, says Temba residents
"They didn't even barricade them, they just left them open. These things are too deep, even an adult can not survive if he or she fell in it, now imagine how would it be for a child."
Residents of Temba unit 5 have described the open trenches left behind by construction workers in their community as “death traps”.
Last year, three boys drowned in a stormwater trench in Tambo ext. 1 in Hammankraal while another boy also drowned in a construction site in Temba View ext. 10.
The residents of unit 5 said the trenches have been left unattended for almost a year.
“The workers didn’t even barricade them, they just left them open. These things are too deep; even an adult cannot survive if he or she fell in it, now imagine how would it be for a child.
“We have had cases here in Hammanskraal of children dying because of negligence from contractors, but nothing seems to be done about it. “The people who were working on this project told the community that they stopped working because the contractor did not pay them and we are now left with this mess.
“We are in a rainy season and these holes will be filled with water, if someone falls into it, they will not survive. This is just a death trap for the community especially the children.” One of the residents in the area, Dorrah Molefe, said residents cannot even drive their cars as the streets are a mess. “You can’t even drive a car, the streets are a complete mess.
Now that we are in a rainy season, things will be worse because the cars get stuck in the mud. The roads were not like this before they came. “We just want to plead with the city to do something about this before people lose their lives on something that could have been avoided.” An aunt to one of the three boys who drowned in Tambo ext.
1 last year, Johanna Maphoso, said despite promises by Tshwane mayor Randall Williams to get to the bottom of who must be held responsible for the boys’ death, nothing has been communicated to them.
“We last saw and heard from him the day he was visiting the families of all the children who lost their lives. We do not know what is happening with the case.
We don’t even have a case number, we are just in the dark,” she said. “One of the police officers came here to ask for the number of the parents of the child who survived the incident, but I did not have it at the time.
He then said I should get it for him and he would call later on that day to get it, but he didn’t. That was the last time we heard anything from the police.”
Maphoso said children will continue to lose their lives if the metro does not make sure that contractors barricade trenches. “This problem is all over Hammanskraal and parents will continue to lose children if the city does nothing. Why can’t the city send inspectors in the areas that contractors are working on to make sure they comply fully?”
Temba police spokesperson Herman Moremi said no one has been arrested in the case where three children lost their lives in Tambo ext. 1. “The police cannot arrest the constructor. The case has been taken to court for a decision and it was closed. Our community should understand that there are no suspects in inquest cases. We would like to advise them that should they want to sue, they should involve their legal representative to take the contractor or the municipality to court.”
Tshwane metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said construction activities in unit 5 commenced on February 4, 2021, and that construction is expected to finish only by October 2023. Mashego said the project was initiated as part of the second phase of a master plan for the provision of sewer reticulation infrastructure to a total number of approximately 1 166 stands in Kudube Unit 5.
“Implementation of the first phase for provision of infrastructure (222 stands) was completed in November 2016.” He said the metro was concerned about the repetition of incidents like the one in Tambo ext. 1 and Temba View ext. 10 happening in Unit 5. “In November 2021, we requested all construction sites to submit their shutdown plans.
At the moment contractors are not opening new trenches – instead, they are working on finalising the closure of open trenches, backfilling and compaction ahead of the builder’s break.
“With regards to the open trench in question, the safety agent requested the contractor to quickly backfill it. The subcontractor’s scope has since been taken over by the main contractor to realise the completion of pipe laying and backfilling.
The contractor was also instructed to do more visibility patrol to all barricaded open trenches.” Mashigo said monthly occupation health and safety audits are being carried out and the contractor is informed to address all the non-compliance encountered during the month of audit.
“Furthermore, the Tshwane metro issued the health and safety notice of request for all construction sites to submit their shutdown plan.”
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