The recent spate of sinkholes in the Laudium and Erasmia area, has caused panic amongst local residents, more so as the sinkholes are now spreading into residential areas. Also, a portion of the busy R55 main road, just outside Laudium, which has greatly been affected by the sinkholes has resulted in huge traffic congestion in the area. This past Monday (April 2) a high ranking government delegation including Gauteng Premier David Makhura, MEC for roads, Ismail Vadi, Mayor of Tshwane, Solly Msimanga and local Councillor Mahomed Essop visited the affected areas to assess the damage caused. They also met with owners whose Laudium homes were affected by the sinkholes. Makhura promised that money would be channelled immediately, to rehabilitate the sinkhole on the R55, as it was posing much inconvenience to thousands of motorists who use the road daily, and also posed a danger to nearby homes.
Fears mount as Laudium sinkhole spreads
A Laudium family told a high ranking government delegation that they are living in fear that their house will sink into the ground, after parts of their backyard caved into a huge, expanding sinkhole, this past Saturday evening, March 31.
On Monday, April 2, Gauteng Premier David Makhura, Tshwane Mayor Solly Msimanga, Gauteng transport MEC Ismail Vadi and local Councillor Mahomed Essop visited the area and affected residents, after sections of the R55 road in Laudium collapsed further on Saturday evening, leaving two houses near the sinkhole severely damaged. The actual damage to a section of the R55 (between Muhammed’s Hardware and KFC) occured on the previous Friday (March 23).
“Last week, we noticed a few cracks on our wall and we were advised by engineers on site, to empty our pool,” said homeowner Zuleka Esmail. “Then, our back wall collapsed two days later. When we went outside, we saw a huge sinkhole was moving towards our neighbour's house and under the corner of our wall,” Zuleka exclaimed.
Parts of the neighbour’s garden, house wall and swimming pool were damaged and there was a gaping hole in the corner of their yard. Zuleka and her husband Khalid told the Premier, “We are so worried about our whole house sinking. What if this sinkhole travels and goes under our house. We have a beautiful home and we don't know how we will be compensated for this. A lot of money was put into this home,” the worried couple said.
Premier Makhura explained that 25 percent of the Gauteng province consists of dolomitic land, with Centurion and parts of Laudium being Tshwane's most affected areas. He promised that security and barbed wire would be provided for those houses where boundary walls had collapsed. The Premier further stated that priority would be given for the rehabilitation of the sinkholes on the R55 and the neighbouring area. “Repairing is going to cost between R40 million to R50 million. When there is a problem like this sinkhole, we have to respond, whether it was budgeted for or not. The R55 is a very busy road. If this road closes, it would cause huge problems,” Premier Makhura said.
Makhura said that according to the Council for Geosciences, in the past 50 years, close to 40 people have been killed by sinkholes in Gauteng.
“For the past couple of weeks our technical team has been monitoring what is happening in this area almost on a daily basis, and alerting the public. No one was injured here and our teams will continue to monitor further sinkholes developing,” the Premier said.
An official on the scene, this past Monday, said that there are fears that the sinkhole could now spread across the R55 southbound lane.
He warned that the surrounding ground was very unstable and could continue to collapse.
A portion of the cracked R55 (Northbound carriageway).
The huge sinkhole on the R55 has spread to the Esmail home on 2nd Avenue, Laudium.
Zuleka Esmail’s home on 2nd Avenue has been affected by the spreading sinkhole.