Mining houses must cooperate with the authorities in Gauteng to rehabilitate sinkholes in the Merafong Municipality.
Ten new sinkholes were recently reported in the Merafong Local Municipality (Carletonville, Fochville, Wedela), the latest being in Carletonville.
The Municipality has already spent millions on relocating families in Khutsong, where most sinkholes occur, after sinkholes started forming under and next to their houses.
During an oversight visit to Merafong by the Gauteng Legislature's Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), the FF Plus once again called on mining houses in the area to shoulder their responsibility of rehabilitating sinkholes as it should not only rest on municipalities and the Gauteng province.
According to a COGTA report, it will cost more than R2,2 million to rehabilitate the ten new sinkholes in Merafong.
And according to a report by Mybroadband on 6 April this year, R1 billion has already been spent on rehabilitating about 200 sinkholes in the province over the past five years.
The greatest part of Merafong consists of dolomitic soil.
Mining activities, poor infrastructure, resulting in sewage water leaking into underground limestone, and rainwater contribute to the formation of sinkholes.
The FF Plus will continue to put pressure on mining houses and municipalities to join hands for the sake of Merafong residents' safety.
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