Kwa-Thema – After years of deterioration, many houses in Deep Level are falling apart. Oscar Madonsela nearly lost his head when part of the wall above his back door collapsed in the early hours of June 16.
“I had gone to check if the yard was secure. As soon as I stepped back inside and closed the security door, I heard a loud bang, and the wall had collapsed,” explained Madonsela.
He said he was grateful not to have been injured but worried others, especially the young children who play in the yard, could fall victim to the leaning wall.
Elizabeth Mkhwebane, a pensioner who has lived in Deep Level since 1987, said these challenges are nothing new.
“If my next-door neighbour smokes inside, I can smell it in my house. That shows how thin the walls are,” she said.
@african_reporter
Deep Level homes crumble #kwathema #CoE #africanreporter
♬ original sound – African Reporter
Gogo Mkhwebane said the walls are only one brick wide.
“I believe the wall in my house stands only because the wardrobes are supporting it,” she added.
She said the city sent many engineers over the years to assess the real issues in the area.
“One major issue is that the houses are built on a slope. When it rains, we open the front doors to let the water flow through the house and out the other side.
“Remember, there is no space on the sides of the house for the water to flow. Then there is the issue of the unstable foundations. We have been told many times the foundations need reinforcement,” she explained.
At another house, the fallen bricks are packed neatly under the kitchen window.
Mkhwebane said it pains her that every political campaign since 1995 has promised to refurbish their houses. Refiloe Lerutla said young people in the area are ready to fight for the homes they inherited from their grandparents.
“Since we were schoolchildren, many walls have collapsed. Some families even chose to repair their homes themselves because they had waited too long for the municipality,” she explained.
She said there was renewed hope in 2011 when they learnt the metro planned a project to restore houses. However, the project targeted another settlement, not Deep Level.
“We were told the project budget ran out. We don’t know if they want us to die when these walls collapse while we’re still in our homes,” she said.
Manana Senthunse does not know why her yard is sinking, but fears the whole house will sink one day.
Manana Senthunse said her family moved to the area in the 1950s.
“When we arrived, the house and yard were level, but we soon noticed the yard sinking. When it rains, water flows under one side of the house and comes out the other. I’m afraid the whole house will disappear into the ground one day,” she said.
Gogo Manana added that she no longer feels safe working in the yard. At another house, fallen bricks lie neatly stacked under the kitchen window.
The family said the wall had been leaning for years before it finally collapsed in March 2024. Mkhwebane added that she was concerned about residents who received title deeds from the metro.
“After giving people the deeds, they said any damage to the house is now the owner’s responsibility to fix. How can they give people ownership of damaged houses? Are they trying to shift the responsibility for repairs?” she asked.
Residents have formed a committee to represent their interests to the metro but say they keep hitting a wall. Comment from the CoE on the plight of Deep Level residents is still awaited.
ALSO READ: City responds to prolonged power outage in Ext 7A
ALSO READ: Kwatsaduza residents urged to step up car safety amid hijacking surge
Some houses have slowly fallen apart for many years.
At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Stay in the know. Download the Caxton Local News Network App here.