Sinkholes on a road in an upmarket Durban suburb have become the source of frustration for residents who are demanding immediate action from the eThekwini municipality.
Recently a minibus taxi landed in the sinkhole on Earl Haig Road in Morningside, and two tow-trucks suffered the same fate a little farther down the road.
Residents say it’s “fortunate” there were no injuries.
The sinkholes, they say, have been caused by a leaking water pipe that eroded the soil under the road.
“We have been reporting service delivery issues for a while now. We have reference numbers to prove it, but there has been no delivery of services whatsoever,” said resident Idris Seedat.
“There has been leak at the top of the road for a few months. That leak has eroded the road resulting in the sinkhole.
“Two weeks ago a taxi was driving up this road, the tar gave way and it landed in the sink hole. By the grace of God nobody was injured.”
Seedat said residents have learnt from their local councillor that “assessors and construction people have been on site, but nothing has happened so far”.
“This area has been deteriorating progressively. We are frustrated and want action to be taken.
“This is not a favour we are asking. We are ratepayers, paying exorbitantly high rates. We are paying just as much or even more than neighbourhoods in the northern suburbs. However, we are not getting the services we are entitled to.
“The road is collapsing and it’s going to get worse if there is no continuous maintenance in this neighbourhood.
“We feel there are some neighbourhoods who get preference over us, why, I don’t know. We are tired of excuses. We pay our rates, we need action.
Municipal spokesperson Lindiwe Khuzwayo said: “We currently have teams working on Earl Haig Road in Morningside.
"Our water and sanitation crew has completed repairs to pipes. Our other teams are due to start backfilling with milling to make the area safe. The final repairs to the road will be done once this is completed.”
Another resident said when the road collapsed, his driveway lifted about 5cm, damaging his sports car.
“The front bumper fell off, my sensors got damaged and my driveway has holes in it.
“Fed-up residents have voiced their frustration on social media platforms.
One said: “Durban is literally one big sinkhole waiting to happen. It’s becoming that one is too scared to drive along certain roads due to underground water leaks not being fixed and left to erode the soil beneath the tar.
“This is happening more and more and what can one expect when the municipality simply plops tar on top of a budding sinkhole, instead of fixing the problem to begin with? Whose head will roll for this? Let me think about that for a minute... no-one’s, as usual”.
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