Burst pipe creates hidden sinkhole in Simon’s Town

Several runners, a skateboarder and a cyclist fell into a sinkhole on the pavement along Simon’s Town Main Road, near the Dido Valley Road intersection.

The sinkhole, caused by a burst water pipe on Saturday January 4, was concealed by water, say eyewitnesses.

Steven Shannon, a skateboarder from Glencairn Heights, said he was travelling towards Simon's Town along the ocean-side of the road around 6.30am when he noticed water gushing into the road.

He said he had moved to the opposite side of the road as it seemed that there was less water there and that was when he had fallen into the hole, pulling a muscle in his right leg.

He said that around the same time a cyclist had also fallen into the hole and his bike was submerged.

Mr Shannon said cyclists retrieved blue pipes from the other side of the road and used them to mark the hole to warn others.

Lauren Tuck, a runner from Noordhoek, was on a club training run when she fell into the sinkhole. She too had crossed the road as the water on the other side of the road was ankle-deep.

She said she had noticed the hole and had tried to “side-step” it, but the tar beneath her feet gave way and she fell, bruising and scraping her right ankle and left knee.

Acting mayoral committee member for water and sanitation Siseko Mbandezi said the sinkhole was caused by the burst of a 225mm inlet supply pipe to Dido Lower Pump Station.

The burst was isolated and repaired by internal teams and a contractor on the same day.

He said the City’s water and sanitation directorate had an ongoing pipe replacement programme that would see several kilometres of water and sewage pipes replaced across the city.

“All older pipe lines are taken into consideration for replacement annually, with the bulk of Simon’s Town’s pipes having been replaced already,” he said.