Fourteen years after the problem started, Martie and Kriek Badenhorst are still being woken up at 4.30am every morning, and having their house flooded with grey water.
It all started when, in 2005, a centre was built on the corner of Peter Road and Beyers Naudé Drive, only a few hundred metres from the Badenhorsts’ home. The centre, which houses a handful of shops, was built without building plan approval from the City of Johannesburg, according to Ward 97 councillor and MMC for Social Development, Leah Knott, who confirmed that fact for an initial article written by the Northsider last year.
Read the initial article here:
https://roodepoortnorthsider.co.za/282997/thirteen-years-on-and-greywater-still-a-problem-print-lines-still-blurred-after-13-years-of-fighting-web/
Besides the noise issue that was subsequently caused by the shops as well as the noise from the opening of the centre gate as early as 4.30am, the grey water that flows into the Badenhorsts’ property has been the biggest problem. The land on which the centre was built was initially level with the Badenhorsts’ property, but when the development went up, so did the ground level, creating a slope directing the grey water directly towards the Badenhorsts’ property.
This has led to the Badenhorsts’ boundary suffering some considerable damage, while the moisture caused by the constant grey water has meant that they have had to spend hundreds of thousands of rands on repairs on tiles, floors, walls, etc. around the house. Since the Northsider reported on the Badenhorsts’ predicament in October last year, they have not experienced any progress in the form of a solution to their problems.
In December last year, another issue was added to their list of woes when they had illegal connections connected to their electrical box, which stands outside their property without a functioning lock. According to Kriek, they have reported the issue several times, but nothing has been done about it.
Leah Knott was able to confirm to the Northsider that she and several members of the City of Joburg conducted a site visit to survey the site in March. She also confirmed that the case had once again been picked up by a legal team from the City, in the hope that the issue would be resolved, given that it has survived two ward councillors before Knott.
