Witpoortjie Estate residents plagued for years by dangerous sinkholes

Residents of Witpoortjie Estate, west of Johannesburg, took to the streets to protest over sinkholes which have been developing in the area, claiming they have not been fixed for more than two years.

Community members blocked off the Randfontein Road with rocks and tyres before being dispersed by the police with stunt grenades and rubber bullets.

Some residents believe the sinkholes may have been caused by illegal miners working in the abandoned shafts in the area.

Evens Phaswana 45, who has been living on Witpoortjie Estate since 2014, said the community has been trying to fight the zama zamas.

“At night you can hear the dynamite blasts which shake our house and crack the walls.”

TimesLIVE saw a number of sinkholes in different parts of Witpoortjie, one of them at a community recreational park, posing a threat to children.

“I need to come up with an alternative and that's selling this house. But who is going to want to buy a property when they see there are problems? There are sinkholes and the grass is long, so you can't see them. Our children like to play in the park and could fall in,” said a concerned parent.

Tebogo Magashoa, regional operations manager of the Johannesburg Roads Agency, who responded to the protests, said he had been in the job only two months and didn't yet have a grasp on the situation.

“I found this sinkhole issue on my desk,” he said. 

TimesLIVE