Businesses, families suffering
Health risk as sewage overflowing into premises
The overflowing sewage crises in the district is a serious problem for local businesses.
The Rep spoke to one of Union Diesel s managers, Shaun
’
Aylwin, who said the stench from the sewage was chasing customers away.
We reported the first problem in July when the sewage was overflowing. They came to look once on “a Saturday. They cleared nearby drains and on the Monday when we came back, we were back to square one. The workshop, customers waiting area and
’ kitchen were covered in sewage and when we flushed the toilets, all the water came back up. We reported the matter
” again and got four different reference numbers, yet the problem persists.
They told us there was a
“problem they were working on in Pelem Road, but how can you work on a problem for more than two months?” he asked.
Aylwin said they wanted the Chris Hani District Municipality (CHDM) to immediately clear the sewage because it was a serious health risk.
The sewage spills into the
Komani River. This is a health risk, especially for the staff.”
Meanwhile, pictures of graves sinking into raw sewage at the Mlungisi cemetery were shown to The Rep.
The Rep reported (Sewage spillages crisis, September 4) that the CHDM attributed sewage spillages in the district to continued vandalism and theft at water and sanitation treatment works, including the dumping of foreign objects into manholes. A concerned resident reported on social media that, at the corner of Wodehouse and Hertzog Streets in Sandringham, there had been sewage running on the tar road for more than a week.
I saw the sewage truck there “last Friday, but that did not help. Is there no one who can
“sort this out?”
Another wrote: I have
“reported this sewerage spillage in Westbourne to CHDM technical services numerous times, but they fail to attend to the problem.
I have now taken the matter “ to a higher level and reported it directly to the CHDM mayor, Wongama Gela.”
Two weeks ago, Boxer shopping complex owner, Basil Arseniou, reported on social media that sewage was overflowing at the Boxer Superstore s food receiving area.
’
Nontuthuzelo Mariam Mbadu, who lives with her partner, Sipho Sihelegu, in Mzimkhulu Street near Rowell Old Age Home in Mlungisi, has sewage overflowing into her house.
The couple believe it is caused by a burst sewage pipe which, they say, burst last year. Mabadu, who lives with a wound that never heals, said the environment was a health risk. I cannot walk freely in my
“house.
This affects my wound and I “am not able to sleep,” she said. Sihelegu said: This also
“affects us in terms of Covid-19. The virus is likely to thrive
“in an unhygienic environment. We hear that the virus in
“now airborne.”
He said there were days when they had to scoop bowls of sewage out of the house, which later filled up again.
However, there were times when the sewage would stop running for a number of days. We reported the problem to “
CHDM and the technicians came, but the problem remains,” Sihelegu said.
CHDM spokesperson Thobeka Mqamelo said the municipality was aware of the sewage problem at Mlungisi cemetery.
The blockage has been
“attended to a confirmation to
– this effect was received from the customer,” Mqamelo said. The blockage is as a result
“of a clogged line that links with the pump station.
The line is flowing back into Union Diesel and Boxer Store. The team had to rid the line “of rocks and other objects that choked it and replace a worn pipe.
The technical team still needs to clean the entire bulk line leading to the pump station to avoid recurrence of the back flow. This is work in progress.”