There seems to be no end to ongoing reports of sinkholes and overflowing sewer lines all across Strand, for another has appeared on the corner of Fagan and De Ruyter streets following the rains of last week.
This is the fourth time the ground has collapsed in four years, according to residents (“Sinkholes a recurring snag,” DistrictMail & Helderberg Gazette, Wednesday 22 June).
An adjacent section of the pipeline in question was repaired just a month ago.
“We received only about 25 mm of rain over a 36-hour period, and yet the infrastructure was unable to cope,” a homeowner, who asked not to be named, said. “The City needs to find a permanent solution instead of just conducting repairs. This is a terrible inconvenience to residents.”
Councillor Zahid Badroodien, Mayoral Committee member for Water and Sanitation, clarified this as a second sewer collapse, at a spot not too far from the first collapse, which has since been repaired. “The primary cause of these sewer collapses is ageing infrastructure,” he explained, “but the City has plans in place for the installation of new pipes.”
Asked to address ratepayers’ concerns about repairs costing far more than what it would be to have the entire Trappies sewer system replaced, Badroodien said the replacement of the entire sewer line is one of the projects that will be undertaken in the short to medium term. “A professional service provider will be appointed on an existing consultant contract to do the planning,” he said. “This appointment is anticipated to be in place by 30 September, as work has already begun. The recent overflows, the result of a faulty Lourens River Pump Station, were resolved. Plans to deal with the most recent sinkholes are in the pipeline and repairs will start in due course.”
