Victoria Avenue continues to crumble as city municipal entities pass the buck

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25-02-2026
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Sandton Chronicle
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After more than 10 years of road collapse, Parkmore residents are still waiting for answers. With heavy rains worsening the damage, municipal departments have now committed to a joint site inspection.

As March approaches, known for its heavy rainfall, Parkmore residents are bracing for more downpours with growing safety concerns.
Long-standing stormwater and sinkhole damage along Victoria Avenue continues to worsen, more than a decade after the first problem emerged.

The most severe damage remains at the corner of 4th Street and Victoria Avenue, where heavy December rains deepened an already unstable section of the roadway.

Nearby intersections, including 5th Street and Victoria Avenue, are also showing visible collapse, with eroded curbs, exposed infrastructure and expanding cavities beneath the road surface.

During the site visit with the publication on February 12, Parkmore Community Association manager and Ward 90 committee member Lori Klein said what began as a drainage issue had evolved into a big hole that was now spreading into the roadway itself.

“I’ve noticed that since the heavy rainfalls in December, this particular location, which is on 4th Street corner of Victoria Avenue, has actually spread further into the road and has gotten even deeper. You can see completely collapsed infrastructure inside this hole,” Klein said.

She added that repeated attempts to engage the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) since 2022 have resulted in no response despite visible road collapse and expanding sinkholes along Victoria Avenue.

“I have been emailing Joburg Roads Agency since 2022. More recently, I sent them an email in January this year and again this morning to get some type of follow-up from them. I’ve requested meetings numerous times, and I’m just not getting any answers back from the roads agency.”

Conflicting responsibility

In a previous article, Parkmore braces for further road damage as the rainy season arrives to worsen the 10-year sinkhole, [Week ending November 6], it was reported that Johannesburg Water (JW) had previously investigated the site and confirmed the water feeding the sinkhole was not from the municipal pipeline but from a borehole on a private property.

At the time, JW spokesperson Nombuso Shabalala said, “JW have investigated the site twice, most recently on October 7, and found that the water causing the erosion was not from a municipal pipeline. This issue relates to borehole water. It falls outside JW’s operational mandate.”

Parkmore Community Association manager and Ward 90 committee member Lori Klein points to the deepening sinkhole at the corner of 4th Street and Victoria Avenue, where heavy rains have worsened the long-standing stormwater damage. Photo: Xoliswa Zakwe

JRA had previously logged a service request and indicated exploratory excavations would be conducted to determine the source of the leak. However, no formal update followed before the year-end.

Joint inspection planned

In response to renewed media enquiries from Sandton Chronicle, JRA confirmed on February 20 that it had communicated with JW and that a site inspection was scheduled for the coming week, with the date still to be confirmed.

JRA regional operations manager Khayalethu Gqibitole said, “I have spoken to colleagues at Joburg Water. Our depot will secure a joint inspection in Parkmore next week. JW’s feedback was that it’s a borehole and outside their mandate, as they previously indicated to you [Sandton Chronicle]. We need both teams on site.”

Growing safety concerns

Klein warned that without urgent intervention, Victoria Avenue could continue to deteriorate and could lead to a more severe collapse.

“We have a big sinkhole in the middle of Victoria and Fifth streets… the sinkhole is getting bigger as time goes by… I’m really hoping that at some point Joburg Roads Agency will come to Parkmore, meet with residents and me, and we can eventually get this problem resolved.”