Sinkholes are collapsing major arterial roads, opening inside upmarket residential estates and even beneath shops and factories as illegal miners tunnel under Johannesburg, forcing businesses and residents to spend small fortunes on emergency repairs and temporary infrastructure just to keep operating. Daily Maverick’s Anna Cox reports.
Reporting by: Anna Cox
Filmed by: Malibongwe Tyilo
Edited by: Anda Tolibadi
Produced by: Emilie Gambade
Creative lead by: Malibongwe Tyilo
Sub-edited by: Caspar Greeff
Read more: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-05-31-roads-shops-factories-and-homes-threatened-by-sinkholes-as-illegal-mining-hollows-out-joburg/?dm_source=blocks-list-item&dm_medium=card-link&dm_campaign=inform
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0:00 Intro — Johannesburg’s ground is giving way
0:25 On the ground with the Johannesburg Roads Agency
0:45 Nick Toomey Road: closed since 2019, drowned in sewage
1:00 Illegal mining syndicates blocking repair crews
1:25 Sinkholes threaten Witpoortjie Estate
1:40 Shops swallowed on Albertina Sisulu Road
2:10 Joburg’s no-go zone
2:35 Booysens businesses build their own bypass
2:55 Kunene’s inflammatory language
3:05 City announces SAPS/SANDF crackdown, new R97bn budget
