VEREENIGING.- A huge hole in front of house No 33, Jan Van Riebeck Street in Vereeniging is a sore sight and a discomfort for both the owner of the house and the motorists.

For the owner, Grace Mnisi, it is a pain because her house is falling apart, bit by bit, as it cracks due to the hole while the motorists have to ‘swim’ through the hole with their cars to get on either part of the road.

The hole, Mnisi says, was left after a contractor allegedly hired by the Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) to fit sewer or water pipes did not fill it properly almost three years ago.

“I have reported this with the municipality but nothing is being done. Because of the lorries and cars that pass here almost every second my house is falling apart.”

Mnisi, together, with her family is now staying in the outside rooms fearing that the house “will fall on her” anytime. Mnisi led Sedibeng Ster into the house and true to what we were told before entering, the house is a disaster waiting to happen with cracks everywhere, on the walls and even on the floors.

Sello Mosoeu, a local resident proclaimed, “This is a mess, the next thing is that they will be asking for our votes. How do we vote while we are having such problems, who do we vote for, most importantly, what do we vote for?”

While Sedibeng Ster was on the scene, lorries and cars could be seen ‘swimming’ in the hole while trying to navigate it.

Because the road is mostly used by lorries from firms in the nearby Powerville, it is said that some people come to pour gravel and old tar road material into the hole sometimes which does not solve the problem because as soon as it rains, as it has been the case recently, the problem arises.

ELM spokesperson, Makhosonke Sangweni said, “We are committing to look and act in rectifying the situation, and normalise the road.”