Illegal dumping blamed for weekend flooding in Duncan Village

Heavy rain over the weekend has again left Duncan Village residents wringing their hands amid flood damage — and a clogged drainage system.

Like the shock floods in January, the heavy rain that fell in East London on Friday and Saturday exposed the scale of illegal dumping that goes on in the area and the damage it causes when the skies open.

The deluge left a number of residents with flooded homes and possessions destroyed or damaged.

Resident Ayanda Mbolekwa said flooding in Bashe, Mazwi and Florence streets in Duncan Village had caused havoc.

“Families in low-lying areas of these streets have been badly affected by the heavy rain and flooding on Friday evening.

“It is not the first time this has happened.

“Yet the municipality is not doing anything to alleviate the plight of the community in the area.

“The whole drainage system here needs upgrading,” said Mbolekwa.

BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said disaster management officials had responded to the calls on Friday and Saturday.

Some of the flooding had not been caused so much by the heavy rains as by blocked drains, he said.

“This happened in the ward 6 Eluxolweni informal settlement.”

“I think the reason for the affected drainage system is mainly illegal dumping, which gets into the drains and blocks the system.”

“This is what creates flooding. This is the same challenge that was experienced in Ford Street in Duncan Village during the floods in January.”

He said no evacuations had been necessary, and now that the weather had cleared people were picking up the pieces.

“The disaster management department is ensuring that applications are submitted to the human settlements department. We have given all affected residents forms to fill in.

“We have to submit an application if there is a need for us to put together temporary structures.

“The main area that had a huge blockage due to debris is Ford Street in Duncan Village,” Ngwenya said. “We have since unblocked the main pipe.

“We are working on our stormwater drainage system and have roped in external engineers to assist in the upgrading of our system.

“We have a contract in place to service stormwater drains and we will ensure that before the rainy season we attend to them.

“We need to educate the community not to dump illegally as this is the biggest challenge we find whenever we clean our drains.”