The City of Cape Town’s Water and Sanitation Directorate has responded to alerts of a third sinkhole identified in Fagan Street, Strand, on Thursday 5 October.
“The sewer maintenance team has done an initial assessment and determined that this lies along the Trappies sewer route,” the City said in a statement. “All necessary precautions have been taken to ensure the sinkhole is made safe, well-demarcated and clearly visible for residents and motorists in the area.
It added these safety precautions are an interim emergency measure put in place until the contractor begins with point repairs, which were expected earlier this week.
The repairs will involve excavation by means of motorised mechanical equipment and will also require that a section of the road be closed for this purpose.
“All efforts will be made to reduce the inconvenience to residents and motorists driving through the area,” they stated. “Motorists are advised to reduce speed in the area and observe the demarcation in Fagan Street, or use an alternative route if necessary.”
And in response to reports of a week-long sewer overflow at 49 van der Merwe Street, also in Strand along the Trappies pipeline, Councillor Zahid Badroodien, Mayoral Committee member for Water and Sanitation, clarified that according to City records the service request was logged on Monday 9 October.
“The Water and Sanitation teams had to assess the problem before the work could begin and, due to the Trappies line being at full water capacity from the heavy rains in past weeks, they could not begin immediately,” he said. He added that the blockage was caused by foreign-waste objects in the sewer network and was cleared by the team.
Badroodien said the City is committed to improving communication channels with residents, particularly in reviewing response times to service requests when they are first logged.
The Water and Sanitation Directorate has recently established a dedicated communications branch which will send weekly updates on the progress of repairs in the area.
To register for these updates and alerts, please send an email to communications.waterandsanitation@capetown.gov.za.
