{
  "id": 8778493,
  "title": "SINKING CITY: Orange Grove sinkhole victim (81) languishes as Joburg defaults on court orders",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/20/sinking-city-orange-grove-sinkhole-victim-81-languishes-as-joburg",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-20T22:08:41.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Daily Maverick",
    "slug": "daily-maverick",
    "url": "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-09-20-orange-grove-sinkhole-victim-81-languishes-as-joburg-defaults-on-court-orders/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Eighty-one-year-old pensioner Sherley Markowitz has been struggling to return to her Orange Grove home in Johannesburg after a municipal stormwater culvert collapse six years ago. Despite multiple court orders, the City of Joburg has failed to act, leaving Markowitz trapped in an indefinite state of displacement. She and her husband had renovated her older house, turning the storerooms into a hairdressing salon. The collapse destroyed her property and livelihood. The City is now spending millions on rent for Markowitz in a temporary flat, storage fees for her belongings, legal fees, and security guards for an abandoned house. Her legal representative, Chantelle Gladwin-Wood, has taken on her case pro bono, leading to several high court applications. Despite living in a rented flat, Markowitz suffers from constant anxiety and feels powerless against the municipal machinery.",
  "summary": "Sherley Markowitz (81) was forced to move from her Orange Grove home when a municipal stormwater culvert collapsed. Six years and multiple court cases against the City of Joburg later, she still can’t return.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}