THERE are open manholes everywhere in the kasi.
And this has residents worried.
They said they don’t want to see what happened to Khayalethu Magadla (6) becoming the norm.
Now residents of Diepkloof in Soweto are waging war against any open hole in their kasis, whether big or small.
They said some of the holes have been left open after thugs stole the covers.
Residents said they will identify spots with stolen manhole covers and report them to Joburg Water.
“Sadly innocent children become casualties. We don’t wish what happened to Khayalethu to get repeated. His family went through an unmeasurable trauma,” said resident, Bongani Khumalo.
“We have to do something to help ourselves. The challenge is that we don’t have material to cover these holes. We can’t just use anything.”
Fistos Ndlazi said: “We have so many manholes around Soweto and for as long as they are left open. We must expect the worst.”
Another resident Sello Skhalo, who runs a spaza shop, said there’s an open hole just close to his tuck shop.
“I’m worried that children and adults might fall in and break their legs,” he said.
Sello said he reported it to the municipality, but he’s not getting any feedback.
Khayalethu fell into one of these manholes near his home in Dlamini, Soweto.
His body was only found on Sunday, 3 July, after a 21-day search.
His body is reported to have been found in the splitter chamber of the first manhole towards the sump situated near Eldorado Cemetery.
Joburg Water spokeswoman, Seipati Nyawuza, said manhole covers disappear as a result of theft and vandalism.
“We therefore rely heavily on communities to report uncovered manholes,” she said.
