It may be a long wait and an extended commute for residents and motorists who make use of Earl Haig Road in Morningside, Durban – this after the road collapsed on Friday during the heavy rains.
According to eThekwini Municipality’s Head of Communications, Lindiwe Khuzwayo, the final repairs “will take some time as there is a significant amount of work to be done”.
Numerous sinkholes developed on Earl Haig Road during the heavy rains on Friday, 19 May, with a taxi even falling into one of the holes. The taxi driver, Mndeni Mvubu, described his experience as being similar to that of an earthquake.
“The way it happened, I was shocked; I didn’t think something like that could happen. I didn’t see anything or any problem with the road. It felt like an earthquake or something.”
A tow-truck that later arrived to assist the taxi also reportedly fell into the collapsed road.
Ward 27 DA Councillor, Ernest Smith, believes however, that it was not the heavy rains that caused the sinkholes.
He said: “The issue on Earl Haig arose from a six to eight metre long water pipe that burst, which undermined 200m of the road. Ultimately, this issue speaks to the failing infrastructure of the municipality as a whole, which is not being addressed as the ward itself has seen at least 10 similar issues across various roads such as Earl Haig, Peter Mokaba and Lady Bruce.
“Quite a number of motorists have found themselves at the bottom of these holes with extensive damage to their vehicles and with this most recent instance, not only their vehicles but private property was damaged as well. EThekwini Municipality has a responsibility to ensure that the failing infrastructure for water lines, sewer lines and electricity is replaced timeously to ensure that ratepayers are serviced accordingly and see that their hard-earned money is being used appropriately.”
When asked about the possible cause for the sinkhole, eThekwini Municipality’s Head of Communications, Lindiwe Khuzwayo said: “This is still under investigation. 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.
Residents in the area said that the damages on the road are a great inconvenience to them as they now have to park on the sides, away from the sinkhole. Residents whose driveways are closer to the sinkhole said that they do not have access to their driveways at all and with no exact timeline for the repairs, for now, residents and motorists will just have to wait.
