Motorists warned after apparent sinkhole forms in Die Wilgers area
On Tuesday, the area had been cordoned off with red tape and cones, while Tshwane officials were on site.
Motorists have been warned to be careful following the formation of an apparent sinkhole near a traffic circle at the corner of Rossouw and Ena streets in Die Wilgers earlier this week.
Several videos were circulating on social media on Monday over the newly formed sinkhole, which has left the roadway compromised.
On Tuesday, the area had been cordoned off with red tape and cones, while Tshwane officials were on site.
There have not been any reports of damage to private property.
On a site visit, Rekord witnessed metro officials in the area investigating water infrastructure towards the N4 bridge on Rossouw Street.
The sinkhole is believed to have formed due to an ongoing water leak on a pipe under the road surface, causing erosion.
The Die Wilgers area has been witnessing water outages due to a pipe leak which began in 2019, affecting suburbs such as La Montagne, Die Wilgers and Murrayfield.
It is still uncertain when the sinkhole in Die Wilgers will be rehabilitated.
Local ward councillor Ben Chapman said he, along with metro officials, had completed an inspection at the sinkhole on Tuesday.
“There are three leaks from the 415-mm water pipe, two are next to the [nearby] stream and one is further up on the stream next to the sinkhole which we suspect could have been the cause,” he said.
Chapman said the metro would begin works to appoint a service provider.
“Metro teams from the departments of water and roads would begin works of trenching to locate the suspected water leaks.”
He said the timeline on the repair work would be known after this trenching phase.
The Tshwane metro had yet to provide comment by the time of publication.
Finance MMC Peter Sutton said earlier in the year that, following the approval of the new municipal budget in May, the budget for sinkholes had been decreased from R30-million to about R15-million.
ALSO READ: New sinkhole forms overnight in Lyttelton
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