NATIONAL NEWS - The City of Tshwane is concerned about the number of sinkholes in Centurion, but says it doesn’t have enough money to rehabilitate them.

During the handover of the newly refurbished Kentron substation on Tuesday, Tshwane MMC for health Tshegofatso Mashabela expressed her concern about unattended sinkholes in the area.

Unattended sinkholes in Centurion

“We are faced with a total of sinkholes currently standing at 67,” she said.

Mashabela has called for an oversight visit to resolve the issue of the sinkholes.

“But we don’t have a budget; we will try to see where we can assist,” she said.

Tshwane deputy mayor and MMC of finance Eugene Modise said sinkholes were a big problem and described some of them as scary.

“We are doing something about the sinkholes, but it’s a process and we are working on it. We have made some applications but, unfortunately, it’s a tedious process and there’s red tape.

“Provincial government said it’s the purview of the national government,” he said.

Deputy mayor fears Rand Water pipe burst could cause fatalities

Modise is concerned about a big water pipe from Rand Water passing through Lyttleton.

“If it bursts, it may cause fatalities and the city would struggle to rectify it.

“Categorisation is a problem; it’s a disaster,” he added. Modise said national government must help fix the sinkholes because it has the budget.

DA Gauteng legislature transport spokesperson Nicole van Dyk said sinkholes were a problem across the province, with Centurion being the epicentre.

“The areas with the worst-affected sinkholes is ward 57 in Lyttleton and Die Hoewes,” she said.

“The ward councillor submitted an application to the council to call for a significant reduction in the affected residents’ rates because their valuations were too high.”

DA counts 5 150 sinkholes province-wide

Van Dyk said Centurion reported an estimated 66 sinkholes and there were 5 150 sinkholes across the province.

“Tshwane is never going to have the required funding, no matter what, to fix the sinkholes, because they have to maintain infrastructure, fix roads and build new developments,” she said.

Van Dyk added there must be a dedicated sinkhole budget because it’s getting to the point when nothing is going to happen.

“We had a convention hosted at Silverstar Casino to talk about sinkholes and how to adapt to them,” she said.

“We had this wonderful symposium, people offered up services via public-private partnerships – and nothing has happened eight months later.

“At least try to address the sinkholes on provincial routes and provincial land. They have been promising a sinkhole task team but that has also not come to fruition.”

Only 4 sinkholes being fixed

Van Dyk said the province only has four sinkholes on its books that it is fixing at the moment.

“Where the city and province could improve is in leak detection. Sinkholes are largely caused by underground leaks. Yes, underground leak detection is pricey, but it is less expensive than fixing a sinkhole.”

Van Dyk said the city was instead investing millions on other projects.

Article: Caxton publication, The Citizen

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