Elvis Mathaba in front of his now-vacant home in Lyttelton Manor, which was severely damaged after a sinkhole appeared nearby. Picture: Jacques Naude/African News Agency (ANA)
Pretoria - The City of Tshwane has notified the Lyttelton Manor, Centurion, family whose house was swallowed by the earth to refrain from occupying the property.
City spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said they reached out to the family and an inspection was conducted. Subsequently, the metro issued a notice to the owner that the property was unsafe.
The Mathaba family said their trouble began when a sinkhole started to appear in their yard on November 13 after a sewage pipe burst damaged sections of the road.
The house has since been severely damaged, and its windows, walls and other structures are in bad shape. The family have since vacated their home.
This week, they said they were struggling to come to terms with the experience, which affected them mentally and financially.
Elvis Mathaba said: “I have accepted the responsibility – I am the one who must facilitate the restoration of everything. I have controlled my emotions better than the family, but my wife and my children were devastated when this happened.”
He said November 13 was a day they would never forget.
It was a rainy day, and they saw that their neighbour’s boundary wall was a bit cracked, as if somebody was trying to gain entry. He then went outside to investigate.
It was then that he found a big hole had developed between his house and the neighbour’s – and later that day his house started cracking. His family had been staying there for just two weeks at the time.
The cracks continued, the ground was breaking as well.
“We had to consult the municipality and were told we had to vacate the place. That was the difficult part. They gave us an eviction notice on November 14.”
Until now, the Mathaba family has not received any assistance from the City. They said this has put strain on them because they are doing all these things alone. He said not even the insurance company had reimbursed them for money they had spent.
“It is very difficult and traumatic. All the money pressures are putting more strain on the family resources and affect everybody emotionally.”
Mathaba said even though he has vacated the house, the City is still making him pay for the utilities and rates.
“I would like them to intervene and help where they can because now I have rented a place for us to stay in Pretoria West. I have to pay for transport every day and I also have to pay for water and electricity here. This impacts my budget negatively.”
Spokesperson Mashigo said the family was advised to take the matter up with their insurer as there was not much else the metro could do to assist. Similarly, Tshwane did not have mechanisms to detect sinkholes, he said.
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