A year later, Sandton's 'huge hole' has led to road closure that disrupts businesses and residents

For more than a year, Pretoria Avenue in Sandton, Johannesburg, has been closed off as what started as a small sinkhole expanded and now covers the width of the road. 

Loads of soil and rubble dug up while Johannesburg Water was repairing a leaking pipe stand across the road close to a filling station, residential apartments and a hotel. This has led to businesses losing customers while residents have been left in the dark with street lights not working.

Hendrik Bodenstein, a resident of a complex across from the hole, said it initially started as a small leak in December 2023, but due to burst pipes and leaks, it expanded as Johannesburg Water dug up the road to do repairs.

Bodenstein said at one point they went more than a week without electricity, and the local ward councillors called a meeting with businesses, residents, the Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA) and Johannesburg Water.

Ward councillor Lynda Shackleford said the problem started with burst pipes on the corner of Pretoria Avenue and Katherine Street.

“When there was another burst pipe, they came to repair it and the hole got a little bit bigger. When they started to dig they realised the water wasn’t coming from the pipe they had originally repaired, it was coming from somewhere else.

“I think it has been leaking for a while, but the road was being dug up for another repair and another repair, and the hole got bigger,” she said. 

Bodenstein said the area had become a crime hotspot and a taxi rank for e-hailing drivers, waiting to pick up clients in Sandton. 

“Littering in public is a huge issue. We have multiple break-ins at the substation. None of these street lights work, and it has now become a crime hotspot. We all fear for our safety,” he added.

He added that motorists previously used the road to connect to Rivonia Road on their way to the highway.

The manager at the nearby filling station, Mduduzi Radebe, blamed Johannesburg Water officials who were fixing the initial leak. He said they “messed up” everything and left without fixing the problem.

He said in his 14 years working at the filling station, he had never seen such a loss in trade as they had over the past year.

“Our business has gone down. We no longer have the customers that we used to have because of this road. It has affected us a lot, and this is why we had to cut hours for some of our employees because the services are down. We don't get the congestion that we used to get.

“We used to be fully packed with cars in and out. We also have account customers, and those are car rental services who need to urgently prioritise their clients by filling up quickly and return, but with this road closure, they will take their accounts away,” he said.

He added that the account customers were keeping the business afloat, and if they take their accounts away, the business would have to consider retrenchments as they have already decreased their staff's working hours. 

“Things will be very bad because now we will have to consider retrenchment,” he added. 

Johannesburg Water spokesperson Puleng Mopeli said the situation involved six high-voltage cables which needed to be removed.

“We’ve engaged with Eskom and JRA and have requested Citizen Relationship and Urban Management to facilitate a meeting.

“Eskom has indicated that removing the cables could cause a complete blackout across Sandton, and working under these conditions presents significant risks to our employees,” she said. 

Mopeli said they are awaiting an action plan from Eskom on how the work could be safely carried out.

“Safety remains our top priority, to our employees as well as residents of the City of Johannesburg.”

The meeting is expected to be held on Wednesday. 

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