Motorists diverted as repair work on Kempton Park sinkhole continues

Motorists were on Wednesday warned to avoid to avoid Zuurfontein Road in Kempton Park‚ a day after an SUV vehicle took a “nosedive” into a sinkhole.

Repair work on the damaged water that caused the hole was ongoing. Rob Byrne ‏@TrafficSA tweeted: “JHB - Zuurfontein Road‚ ROAD CLOSED for burst pipe repairs at Esther Park‚ via @KemptonExpress”.

JHB - Zuurfontein Road, ROAD CLOSED for burst pipe repairs at Esther Park, via @KemptonExpresspic.twitter.com/Q59jwgRLlH

— Rob Byrne (@TrafficSA) December 14, 2016

On Tuesday‚ TMG Digital reported that Rand Water officials were searching for the burst water pipe that created the sinkhole which was large enough to partially swallow the vehicle.

Photographs posted on social media showed the its nose submerged in water on Zuurfontein Road at Parkland Drive in Esther Park‚ early on Tuesday morning.

Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department media liaison officer Lieutenant Kobeli Mokheseng said the driver of the vehicle had not sustained any visible injuries.

“A lady driving a Chevrolet Captiva‚ blue in colour‚ drove into what she thought was a pothole. There was water all over the show following the rain [on Monday night].

“She drove straight into the hole and half of the vehicle was in the hole. She didn't sustain any visible injuries‚ but she was in a state of shock.”

A Rand Water emergency controller‚ who asked not to be named‚ said that the vehicle had been removed not long after 7am. Workers dug into the sinkhole seeking the burst pipe late on Tuesday morning.

Esther Park resident Erika Swanepoel said she first realised that something was wrong when water pressure in the neighbourhood was low at around 5:30am.

“At 5.30 this morning‚ I went to the bathroom and I thought‚ 'Why is the pressure so low?' My husband said‚ 'Maybe we'll soon be without water.'

“Then we saw the traffic‚ which was strange because it's school holidays.”

Traffic information services picked up the incident and reported heavy delays in the area due to the road being closed heading towards Isando.

Though traffic has subsided‚ Esther Park remains without water as officials do their work.

Petrol attendant Mike Ndlovu said that the filling station he works at cannot operate its car wash. – TMG Digital

“If they don't find [the burst pipe] it will be like this for the whole of December. They have to find it. There is no other way.

Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality water tanks were on the scene late on Tuesday morning to provide residents with fresh water.

Another local resident‚ Mashadi Dube‚ collected water from the municipality's truck with her nephew.

“We came to ask a friend for water and that's when I realised this truck actually has water from the municipality.

“Right now I've got my sister's kid. I'm staying with him because my sister's at work. I'm babysitting so I need the water‚ especially for him.”

Last month‚ a similar incident took place in Kempton Park on Isando Road‚ where a bakkie drove into a sinkhole.

– TMG Digital