City blamed for sewage stink in Joe Slovo
RETHINK The Stink said City officials needed to be held accountable for allowing sewage to overflow on Democracy and Freedom Way in Joe Slovo, Milnerton, for more than a month.
Caroline Marx from Rethink The Stink said this health hazard was unacceptable in the immediate vicinity and was an unseen risk further downstream, where it flowed into the river and ocean.
“Residents also need to play their part by only putting human waste and toilet paper into the sewage system – no nappies, pads, rags or plastic packets, or the problem will reoccur quickly. The money spent on these repairs should rather have been spent on building housing. So the community loses out if a few people abuse the system. Far better for everyone to work together to solve the problem,” she said.
Table View resident Phillipe Roche said developments in Joe Slovo and Dunoon were not planned, which was a major contributor to the sewage overflow caused by exploding and collapsing sewerage infrastructure in both areas.
“Development is unavoidable. It is needed for growth in the current economic model. However, unregulated development and illegal development damages society and the environment and becomes unsustainable, as it is unplanned from a viewpoint of sewage treatment, water supply, city services (pipes, electricity, sewage reticulation and stormwater drains). If it is not planned properly from an infrastructure viewpoint, it will backfire and create untold misery,” he said.
Milnerton Ridge Ratepayers’ Association committee member Jacqui Pember said part of the problem lay with the residents, but the ultimate responsibility lay with the City. She said the City had allowed the overcrowding, and it was getting worse as more people moved into the area.
“What the City does is not a longterm solution. We don’t have a view of what is being planned to address the root cause of the flooding. Expanding Potsdam isn’t doing anything to resolve the issues in Joe Slovo. While millions are being spent on the wastewater treatment plant, a plan needs to be made for Joe Slovo as well, as it’s an untenable situation for the residents there as well as their immediate neighbours in Phoenix,” she said.
The City’s spokesperson, Luthando Tyhalibongo, said it was currently investigating the matter.