LEBOGANG SEALE
RESIDENTS of Orlando East fear for their children’s safety because of a 6m-deep trench filled with water.
They also claim the trench is affecting their electricity supply and the sewerage system.
The hole, bigger than an average swimming pool, was originally meant to be an underground garage for about 30 cars, over which would rise a three-storey mosque.
But the community protested at the building of the mosque, and the trench has been lying open for more than a year, after construction was halted.
Residents became incensed last Monday when the trench suddenly filled with water after an exposed pipe burst.
Following their complaints, contractors cordoned off the trench the next day.
When The Star visited the site on Friday, a lone Johannesburg Water worker was busy draining the murky water. A security guard was on duty.
But this has done little to appease the people in the neighbourhood. They complain that the trench – dubbed the Kimberley hole – still poses a danger to their children’s safety and health.
“Yes, they have fenced it off, but children are still children. They like to play in water, especially now that it’s hot, and they may drown. And how will they manage to drain all the water when it rains?” asked Rofhiwa Mpfuni.
Rose Thosa, whose house is less than 10m from the trench, is worried about the health hazard posed by stagnant water
. “People throw all sorts of stuff in that hole, like dead rats. And now that it’s hot, it will breed mosquitoes,” she said.
She was concerned that the water could soon seep under her house and cause it to collapse.
“They just showed me some papers and said it would not affect us. They even promised to buy me a new house in Protea Glen if I vacated my land.”
Thosa said that soon after construction began, residents began experiencing intermittent electricity outages. Outraged, they submitted petitions and letters opposing the construction of the mosque.
Daniel Tamane, a representative of the Muslim group wanting to build the mosque, accused locals of vandalising the materials used to fence of the trench. He defended the building of the mosque as “our constitutional right”.
The council said in August it was aware of the situation and was considering residents’ concerns.
“(The community’s) concerns were based on safety and inconvenience as well as processes followed by the applicant. Notices were served on the owner and all construction work ceased, and the owner has to obtain certain permission before he can proceed with any construction on the site,” said council spokeswoman Gaynor Mashamaite-Noyce.