Sewerage workers robbed at gunpoint
SECURITY guards and sewerage workers contracted by the City of Cape Towns were robbed at gunpoint of diesel while working on the Hazeldene sewer overflow in Philippi.
This was the third time the workers have been robbed of diesel in the past week, said mayco member for Utility Services Ernest Sonnenberg.
The workers had been attacked more than 20 times since they started working on the bulk sewer last August.
The contractor had resorted to hiring security to safeguard the workers.
“The contractor has resorted to deploying eight security personnel at a time to this site, but to no avail as the thieves threaten them with firearms.”
Sonnenberg condemned the robberies, saying Hazeldene residents were the ultimate victims.
The workers had used diesel to fuel the machinery that cleared the blockage but, after Wednesday’s incident, the road was flooded with sewage.
“Fortunately the sewage did not enter any of the houses as it did previously.”
Sonnenberg said the problem was fixed soon after the incident.
A few months ago, the city launched a project to remove all inappropriate material from the entire Philippi bulk sewer. The estimated cost of the project was more than R2 million.
“The blockages experienced in the Philippi bulk sewer, since the end of August last year, do not result from capacity constraints or any engineering defects in the pipeline, but rather from abuse by the surrounding communities.”
He said the workers had extracted large bundles of rags from the line and mountains of sand, rocks, and kerb-stones. Last week they removed a tyre.
And, despite the robberies and risks caused to people and equipment, overpumping is always restored in the shortest possible time.
“This project is ongoing and will hopefully be completed before the end of the financial year and we are optimistic that this will improve the hydraulics of the pipeline and lead to fewer blockages.”