Sinkholes force shack dwellers to leave their homes, threaten lives

For almost three years, residents of an informal settlement in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni, have had to use torches and cellphones at night to avoid a large sinkhole next to their shacks.

Duduzile Ndlela, 47, who has lived in Angelo informal settlement for 26 years, told Sowetan last week that whenever she takes walks to the shops at night she uses her cellphone to avoid falling into the sinkhole.

Angelo consists of shacks, mobile toilets and narrow streets with sewage spillages running into people’s yards. The area does not have street lighting.

The sinkhole is located in the middle of the settlement and stands about 10m from the nearest shacks. The sinkhole is about five metres deep.

Ndlela’s shack is about 10m from the sinkhole

“We are struggling to sleep at night because we hear funny sounds coming from the hole. This hole is close to my shack and I am scared it might extend to my home and sink it,’’ said Ndlela.

She said the sinkhole appeared in December 2020 and has been growing ever since.

The settlement is one of many places in Gauteng that have been hit by sinkholes, with reports of houses and schools, among others, being sunk into the ground.

To avoid her children from falling into the sinkhole, Ndlela also said shestood by the gate of her shack every afternoon to wait for them to  return from school and walk with them into their home.

“During the weekends I have to guard them when they are playing outside,’’ said Ndlela.

Ndlela’s neighbour, Kortman Masilela, 75, who has been blind for two years, said he stays in his yard most of the time for fear of falling into the sinkhole.

“If I want to buy something from the shops I ask my neighbours to help me. I do not want to gamble with my life,’’ he said .

Community leader Percy Shaku said several shack dwellers had left the area last year because of the sinkhole. Shaku said no incidents of people falling into the sinkhole had been reported.  

Meanwhile, Anton de Montille, 66, of Woodmere, a suburb in Germiston, a few kilometres from Angelo, has had to use bricks and planks to cover several sinkholes in his yard.

There are about six sinkholes in his yard, with most around his garden, patio and garage.

“This is getting bad. My house will soon start disappearing and we can die. Many houses in this area have been affected by these sinkholes for nine years. I think the stormwater drain pipe under our properties has collapsed and is causing the sinkholes,’’ said Montille.

Ekurhuleni municipality spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said a team of engineers had been sent to investigate the the sinkholes in Woodmere.

“We are intervening, the problem is that we are not moving at a speed which we should because of finances but we are intervening... Sinkholes can be caused by leaking water pipes underneath the ground, an area dolomitic in nature or a place located in a mining area. The only intervention we can come up with for the informal settlement is to move the people to a safer and stable land.’’

kokam@sowetan.co.za