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Heavy rains in the past few days have damaged roads in Southernwood, East London, with a sinkhole appearing at the corner of Gately and St Peters streets behind Malcomes Park Centre — forcing the road’s closure.
The road was closed on Tuesday as the sinkhole posed a danger to motorists.
Municipal spokesperson Bongani Fuzile said at this stage they did not have an estimate of long it would take to repair the road.
“The engineers are now assessing the sinkhole to see the amount of damage done by the heavy rains.”
Fuzile urged motorists to use alternative routes until the work was done.
He said the rain had caused much damage in the metro, including to homes.
“The Disaster Management Centre received a report that six wards in the metro were affected. Wards 1, 15, 22, 35, 39 and 45 reported damaged housing.”
A Duncan Village family of seven was left homeless after two shacks were destroyed by fire. In the same ward, five iron sheets were blown away by strong winds.
In Ward 15, a shack was flooded in Ducats and in Ward 22, three mud structures collapsed, two in Mncotsho and one in Potsdam.
In Ward 35, two houses were damaged, one in Balasi and one in Quzini village.
In Ward 39, a house was damaged in Bonke village in Ginsberg, and in Ward 45, 100 temporary structures were flooded at Majarantiyeni location in Ntabozuko.
Fuzile said officials from the metro and disaster management were assessing the damage.
“Relevant departments were notified about the incidents and full information will be forwarded to the relevant stakeholders for further assistance. Stakeholders are ready for any eventualities.”
It was reported earlier that 10 children were missing, feared drowned, after their 22-seater scholar transport bus, travelling to Jumba Senior School early on Tuesday, was washed away by floodwaters and gale-force winds at Efata near Mthatha.
Nine bodies, including three of the schoolchildren, have been recovered as of Wednesday.
This pushes the total number of bodies recovered since Tuesday to 18. Most of the bodies were found in Dicolym near the site where the scholar transport bus was swept away.
Daily Dispatch
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