Over the years, residents of Carletonville, west of Johannesburg, have been living in fear of having their homes submerged underground due to the structures being built on dolomite rocks that cause sinkholes. A frustrated resident explained that his house collapsed yesterday whilst his whole family was inside.

THEY WANT COMPENSATION

The resident claims that authorities came and offered them fat cakes and KFC when all they want is compensation for their houses. "I was not aware that the houses were built on dolomite. However, when we noticed the formation of the sinkholes, we reported it and asked that the municipality to close it because we knew that one day, our houses would collapse. Eight months ago, we started noticing cracks on the house, and again, we reported it with no response. Yesterday, while I was sitting with my whole family, the house started to collapse. We quickly evacuated, and by the time I reversed my second car from the garage, the walls came crashing down," said the resident who didn't want to be named. He added that the authorities came and offered them an RDP house but said that's not what they want. "They came to give us a Magwinya, KFC, and chicken feet, but believe me, that's the least of my worries; all I care about is this big home that I built for my family."

A DIFFICULT TASK

Merafong deputy mayor Mohomotsi Sello said they have started with the rehabilitation of sinkholes. "Let me start by saying that it's not easy for the families and for ourselves also as leadership. We have quite a number of sinkhole formations in the township, and we had started rehabilitation next to the Methodist church in Ward 10, where a sinkhole has been rehabilitated.' He added that the municipality has appointed a contractor to start working on the sinkholes as of next week. "But as we observed throughout the week, the size was no longer the same; it is much bigger now. This means that the initial allocation of houses is limited, and we need more houses in order to attend to this, and we also await a technical report that will further give us details in terms of the test and also what to do next."

SAVING LIVES

He said what they are doing now is to ensure that they save lives so that they don't wake up one day and a family is swallowed by the sinkhole. "We made sure that we at least give them alternative accommodation, which is not something that is welcomed by the community, but that is the alternative that we have for now as assurance that once we see that the community is no longer safe for them to stay here, then we're able to provide them those RDP equivalent houses. There is a budget of R12 million to address the sinkhole crisis; we will also cover other areas, and this is not enough," he said.