Matthew Cooper’s pregnant wife and her mother were trapped in their La Mercy home on Wednesday morning when sand, deposited by the eThekwini Municipality on the roadside, engulfed their home.
The pair were eventually rescued, but their home is once again a no-go zone.
Less than a month ago, Cooper watched his neighbour’s teacups float past him as he stood in knee-high water in his home after a stormwater drain burst during heavy rains.
A portion of his neighbour’s house collapsed, and the gushing waters and debris swept through Cooper’s home.
His car was written off while vehicles belonging to his mother-in-law and brother-in-law were damaged.
Since then their home has been flooded four times.
“We have to find accommodation tonight because we are uncertain as to whether the foundation of the home has been affected. It is unsafe for us to stay here,” said Cooper.
He said the municipality had not directly communicated with affected residents.
“We did see TLBs and construction work, but whatever has been done was clearly not the right corrective measure because we are now sitting with this problem,” he said.
Cooper said items in the home were irreplaceable.
“We cannot just say someone will reimburse us because everything becomes personal. Your fridge, your lounge suite ... it all becomes personal. My wife’s sister died two years ago, and they bought a lot of things together. These items have sentimental value and cannot be replaced.”
eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said the city appointed a contractor to undertake rehabilitation work on an emergency basis after the first incident on September 7.
“The site was handed over to the contractor on September 29 and he was busy with the repair or reinstatement work when we unfortunately experienced more heavy rainfall.”
“This reinstatement work involves replacing the eroded material and then laying a new stormwater line. To date, most of the material had been replaced and we were busy with assembling the stormwater line that had to be laid,” he said.
Mayisela said the assembling required the contractor to weld each pipe together before laying it in the trench.
“Unfortunately, we experienced another heavy downpour last night and material that was placed within the previously eroded area was washed away and deposited in the downstream property.”
“We are working after hours and weekends to ensure the stormwater pipe is reinstated in the shortest possible time. This operation is now at an advanced stage on site. We expect this exercise to be completed soon.”
SA Weather Service forecaster Venetia Phakula said rain was common at this time of year in KZN.
She said there was a 30% chance of rain daily until Sunday.
