Durban - Residents of Durban’s Berea and Overport are angry and have sent a number of complaints about the collapse of city roads, particularly a massive washaway at the north end of Peter Mokaba (Ridge) Road that has been in the same condition for more than a month.
They complained of the following:
- The extraordinary length of time it took the city to complete basic essential roadworks. In one case, a serious washaway took more than a year to fix.
- The fact that these roadworks were not properly demarcated and could cause injury and death. Often it was left for residents to demarcate them with sticks, sand bags, flower pots, yellow paint and other sundry devices.
- Poor workmanship where roads are repaired but not properly filled so the tar sinks further, creating dangerous dips in the road.
- That even after works were completed, the rubble and earthworks were not removed.
- That manhole covers or sewer inlet pipes had sunk in the road, effectively creating potholes - or were now proud of the road and posed a dangerous risk of ripping tyres.
The Independent on Saturday took a drive around the area this week and photographed some of the worst examples. We ignored the instances of minor potholes on the side of roads, or poor road surfaces that you could still drive over, and instances where roads had become patchwork quilts of tar, their surface completely uneven, in ineffective attempts to repair them. We also ignored the instances where residents had filled the holes themselves, using concrete. Often the results leave the road standing proud at the site.
Pictured are some of the worst cases, to quote one resident, that “could sink a SUV”.
- A massive collapse and undercutting of Peter Mokaba near the intersection with Crescent Road that narrows the road considerably and makes it look like a building site. This has been in place for more than a month.
- A giant hole cut into the tarmac at the narrow intersection of East Street and Hartley Road that has been evident for more than a month.
- A section of the road that has been cut away in Hartley Road to lay pipes and not been restored. This has been like that for a “couple of months” and already the narrow road is starting to wash away at the side. One resident described it as “one major rain away from a disaster”.
- A section of road cut away near the intersection of Trematon Drive and Peter Mokaba North (North Ridge Road) that narrows the road dangerously at the point where taxis stop to pick up passengers.
- A massive hole in Venice Road that appeared this week.
- A sewer rodding inlet standing proud on Peter Mokaba (Ridge) Road at the intersection with Crescent street just before the massive pothole.
- Long ruts forming in the road at the end of Problem Mkhize (Cowie) Road where it meets Sandile Thusi (Argyle).
At the time of going to press, the city had not responded to an email which included the pictures. However, the original request was sent to spokesperson Msawkhe Maysela, who only informed the IOS at lunchtime yesterday that he no longer worked for the city .
Niki Moore is part of a group of concerned citizens who have set up Problem Properties in Glenwood to pressure the municipality to enforce its planning and by-laws properly.
She points to a sinkhole in the traffic circle at the intersection of Sphiwe Zuma (Queen Mary) Avenue and ZK Matthews (Nicholson) Road in Glenwood that was left as a “death trap” for almost a year. It has been fixed recently.
“With roads, the biggest problem is sinkholes. The city will probably say it’s climate change, but it’s not climate change. The storm water drains are being blocked up with litter and not being cleaned. It’s a hilly area, the water rushes down hill and, if it’s not channelled, it’s going to undercut walls, gardens, banks and roads.”
She says in her own street, a water pipe bursts every couple of months. “They seem to be repairing pipes an inch at the time. The pavement looks like a jigsaw puzzle. As fast as they put the tar back they dig it up again. I ask why the pipes are not replaced and the answer is they haven’t got budget. But these are fundamental things that council should be doing. It’s not stuff that comes out of the blue. It’s not a surprise, it should be budgeted for.
“The area has an additional problem of sewers overflowing. The infrastructure was designed for houses built for family units ‒ four or five people per house. Now have business people buying up homes cheaply and shoving 20 people into them, overloading our sewers and water and electricity infrastructure. It’s neglect of infrastructure through bad practices and sheer lack of maintenance,” she said.
The Independent on Saturday