Durban — The eThekwini Municipality said it has issued a contravention notice in relation to the “dangerous situation” to the property owner over a collapsing retaining wall in Phoenix.
This is after residents of Centenary Park in Phoenix said they were still concerned about a collapsing retaining wall they said poses great danger to passing pedestrians and schoolchildren.
The Daily News reported on this wall last week with the Centenary Park Residents’ Association saying the pavement was seriously obstructed “due to construction on property allocated according to controversial means”.
The residents noted at least two incidents in which children were almost knocked down by cars when they were forced to walk on the road because of the obstruction.
The pavement has been partially cleared and now the retaining wall is in clear view to the public.
The Centenary Park Residents’ Association contacted the Daily News to state that, as much as the wall had been cleared of sand and debris, the danger was more evident now.
“This week I walked behind a group of children and could still see the danger posed against them. If you inspect the wall, it is clearly evident that it is a serious danger. I walked close to it and it is definitely dangerous and defective and in some places clearly ready to pass its tolerable limits. Anyone can go walk next to this wall and ascertain the safety, you will see it is on the verge of collapsing any time,” said a resident who declined to be named.
The Daily News has seen emails written by the association to the Building Inspectorate at eThekwini Municipality, where they have been pleading for an urgent intervention.
In the emails, a woman from the inspectorate assured the association: “The walkway is cleared, work is still in progress for excess sand beyond the walkway. The retaining wall was not collapsing.”
The association called for urgent action from the government before someone got hurt.
“Shame on the person that is saying this wall is fine and passing it. Shame on you if you are putting the lives and safety of people at risk. This be on their conscience when someone gets hurt. I urge them to please go look at this wall. The pavement is partially cleared, but the wall is clearly defective for even the lay person to see,” said the association.
eThekwini Municipality’s spokesperson, Gugu Sisilana, said the wall is on private property, though it is built close to the pavement.
She said a contravention notice for the “dangerous situation” had been issued to the property owner.
“Our contravention notice for the dangerous situation orders the alleged owner of the defective wall/ structure to employ the services of a registered engineer in order for them to carry out a full-on inspection of the said structure and provide a detailed report of how the structure is safe or not safe, in the case where the structure is not safe, the engineer would provide recommendations for remedial action that must be taken to rectify such.
“The demolition of the wall is dependent on the outcomes and recommendations of the engineer’s report,” Sisilana said.
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