Toti flooding damage costing millions

Three South Coast washaways that developed during the recent heavy rains have grown into gorges, with the cost to ratepayers mounting by millions weekly.

Durban - Three South Coast washaways that developed during the recent heavy rains have grown into gorges, with the cost to ratepayers mounting by “millions” weekly, a furious councillor says.

And all it would take to stop the disaster developing further was for the city manager, S’bu Sithole, or the new mayor, Zandile Gumede, to sign “Letters of Award” for the repair work to start, councillor Andre Beetge said on Sunday.

“Contractors have been identified, but those letters need to be signed, and that is not happening,” Beetge said. “The damage is increasing by the hour, along with the council’s liability.

“The initial city estimate for the three sites, which are being treated as a single cluster, was R8 million. Now, I believe it is in the region of R12m.

“If this had been attended to initially, the devastation and the bill would not have grown so much.”

The Daily News asked the city on Thursday when the city manager or the mayor would sign off on the projects and when the work would begin.

On Friday, Tozi Mthethwa, the head of the communication department, said the municipality would attend to all the infrastructure damage reported to it after July’s heavy rains.

“We have 300 reported cases pending and 120 have been deemed priority. Contractors are currently hard at work in different parts of the city,” she said.

She urged residents to remain patient as the city worked around the clock to attend to the “large amount” of infrastructural damage.

Beetge has written to the mayor, explaining he had been told the matter had been referred to her office. He also told her the three washaways were increasing in size by the hour to the detriment of the environment.

Sewage had been spilling into the river from the Mayville Terrace, eManzimtoti site, he told her.

The sewerage pipe broke during the initial heavy rainfall in late July, along with the water and the stormwater pipes.

Temporary sewerage pipes were installed, but broke in subsequent rains, although a more flexible, sturdier one has since been put in and no sewage was flowing on Sunday.

However, the sewage poured down on to the nearby road last week and a vehicle became stuck and had to be towed out.

Mthethwa said recently that new stormwater infrastructure, a gabion (stone in a mesh cage) retaining wall and backfilling would be put in at the Mayville Terrace site.

Beetge was at a municipal function on Thursday night which was also attended by the city manager and he took advantage of the moment to appeal to him about the problem.

“I am doing everything I can to sort this out, but with every sniff of rain, the situation at all three sites gets worse.

“These are not Mickey Mouse repair jobs any more: they are running into millions of rands,” he said.

Much of the damage that had initially been reported to the council had now doubled and tripled, he said.

When the Daily News visited the Mayville Terrace site in late July, the wall to the nearby Lagoon Point block of flats was still standing, but part of it collapsed during a subsequent downpour.

At 706 Andrew Zondo (Kingsway) Road, eManzimtoti, the initial devastation has doubled and encroached into the properties on either side.

What was once grass is now a gaping gorge, leading to the beach and the owner, Jane Skinner, has had to shell out R25 000 to put in added security.

Part of a fence belonging to her northern neighbour is lying somewhere in the gorge and a beautiful cluster of palm trees from the manicured garden has now fallen into the deepening hole because the ground caved in further.

“You can understand how upset and concerned I am,” Beetge fumed.

In Tiger Rocks Road, Isipingo, there is a similar situation, where there is another gorge.

“When I first came here, there was only a small half-metre by four-metre area of damage. Now look at it. This is what happens when things start off small, but are left and get worse,” Beetge said.

A family living in a nearby house, who did not want to be named, said water and electricity were regularly cut off as the devastation worsened.

They have to drive on the road above the damage to get to their home and fear the road will eventually collapse as the hole below them gets even bigger.

Sister newspaper, Sunday Tribune reported on Sunday that the city would have to pay more than R18m because it had failed to do routine maintenance work on a drainage system near a Prospection company.

Councillor Andre Beetge visits the site below Mayville Terrace, eManzimtoti, where part of the boundary wall of the Lagoon Point complex has caved in.

Daily News