‘Are we safe?’: Ga-Rankuwa Zone 1 residents anxious about crack in reservoir

Some residents at Ga-Rankuwa Zone 1, in Tshwane, say they are living in fear of their homes possibly flooding due to a large crack in a nearby reservoir and underground water seeping into their properties.

The residents said it is a “disaster waiting to happen” unless the fault is repaired.

The City of Tshwane said on Friday it was taking steps to get repairs done and to secure the facility.

When TimesLIVE visited the area on Tuesday, residents questioned why the reservoir was not receiving urgent attention. Water is leaking from the crack, creating a small stream. The reservoir is on a steep slope, allowing a free flow down to nearby residential areas.

MelodiForum Service Delivery Monitoring Group founder Ouda Masemola said he lodged a complaint about the reservoir in May 2018. The matter was reported to the City of Tshwane and the department of water and sanitation.

Masemola said the crack had been worsening in the interim.

“It is affecting neighbouring houses. Some houses are cracking. It has been four years. It is too long, they have to fix it.”

Prof Anthony Turton of the University of the Free State’s Centre for Environmental Management said the reservoir needs to be inspected by a suitably qualified engineer to determine its structural integrity.

“If sound, the repair can easily be effected by means of an internal membrane impregnated with epoxy installed by a suitably qualified team.”

Turton said the images shared with him by TimesLIVE indicate “the failure is horizontal and is not recent, suggesting it has occurred at a point of contact between two previous concrete pours”.

“The fracture appears to be stable, given the presence of algae, which tells us this is not new.

“The presence of white precipitate along the failure plane to the left of the image tells us active corrosion is occurring, so the process is still active.

“The visible ponding of water in the immediate vicinity confirms this is not a new failure. That ponding might affect the structural stability of the foundation if not attended to,” Turton said.

Some residents took TimesLIVE on a walkabout to affected homes, but asked not to be named for fear of victimisation. In more than 50 households, they said, water was springing up from underground, penetrating through floors and walls. They suspect it is due to water leaking from the reservoir and seeping underground.

At one home, the yard wall was hanging by a thread and balanced by a neighbour’s backyard shack. The shack sits in water in which algae and water plants grow. Most residents have resorted to putting rocks inside their yards to walk on to get to their homes.

A 69-year-old man said the problem started in 2018.

“There is water everywhere in my house. In my yard it is never dry. The whole yard is wet. We don’t know what is going to happen if they don’t solve this problem,” he said.

“The problem is at the reservoir .That is where water is leaking from and flowing here. It is worse when it has rained. We are scared one day we will wake up under water.”

A 62-year-old resident said water from the reservoir was flowing into her yard.

“It’s a problem. When it flows from up there it comes in the yard and flows downward. I have tried to put big rocks to block it, but it doesn’t help,” she said.

Another resident said: “Water goes inside the house and it is wet everywhere.”

“Are we going to die?” a nearby resident asked.

“If this reservoir bursts, our houses are the first to go. We don’t know what is going to happen to us.”

A 66-year-old resident said the structural integrity of his home was at risk.

“Our houses are falling and there is nothing we can do. We don’t know if we are safe because if [the reservoir] bursts the whole of Zone 1  is in trouble. We are asking for help,” he said.

Tshwane MMC for utilities and regional operations Daryl Johnston said the city was aware “the reservoir has a crack and requires repairs to stop major water losses”.

The department is procuring the services of a structural engineer to assess the damage “to allow us to put together the best plan to repair the reservoir with the least impact on services to residents”, he said.

“The crack is located high up in the reservoir and we suspect it was caused by vandalism.

“The city has been using automated flow control equipment to manage the reservoir and keep the water level below the crack to prevent leaks. However, that equipment was stolen and this resulted in leaks.

“The reservoir is now being managed manually, which is difficult with the current dynamic while trying to maintain services to residents.”

Johnston said the reservoir supplies Ga-Rankuwa Units 1, 4, 5, 16, 20 and Zone 1, as well as Krelingspost 425-JQ.

“An investigation is under way to determine the required remedial action to alleviate the water leaks [and] the Tshwane metro police department has been tasked with implementing a security strategy to protect the city’s infrastructure.

“Undertaking repairs to a functional piece of infrastructure while maintaining operations is a big challenge, but our teams are working to ensure the reservoir is repaired as speedily as possible.”

TimesLIVE

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