CITY TO REBUILD HOUSES FOR FIVE KATLEHONG FAMILIES DISPLACED BY A SINKHOLE

The City of Ekurhuleni has completed another phase in resettling five families that were displaced when their homes were damaged by a sinkhole in Katlehong last year.

The sinkhole, at Skhosana Section, has now been rehabilitated, after the families were temporarily relocated to safety.

To make the land suitable for reconstruction of the damaged houses, the city had to backfill the sinkhole and now geoscience engineers are conducting an assessment of the work done before rebuilding houses for the affected families.

“This should come as some form of good news for these families,” says metro spokesman Zweli Dlamini. “It is unclear when we will start with the rebuilding, but we do believe that the engineers will assist in this regard once they have completed their assessment of the area.”

The bigger part of the Katlehong township is built on mostly land that has a high risk of sinkhole formation. The current by-laws prohibit building on such land therefore, residents are encouraged to submit their building plans or renovation applications to the city to avoid the costly mistake of building on dolomitic land.

The City Planning Department is located at most Customer Care Centers (CCC) in Ekurhuleni.