NEMF issues ultimatum over crisis
BCM given 30 days to attend to sewage overflows
The Nahoon Estuary Management Forum (NEMF) is giving the municipality 30 days to address sewage overflows from the Cambridge pump station which has seen effluent flowing into the Nahoon River for the last three weeks.
In a letter issued to the municipality this week, NEMF has called for a backup power supply for the pump station, for blockages and sludge to be cleared from the sewer lines, the removal of overgrown bushes from behind the pump station and for the broken early warning system to be repaired.
NEMF chairperson Christo Theart said the conditions at the pump station violated the court order issued to the municipality in 2021 for tighter control, increased maintenance, and a generator to be installed.
If the situation was not attended to within 30 days, Theart said NEMF would pursue contempt of court action against BCMM.
Theart said: “It [Cambridge pump station] has again not been working for a long time as the dedicated electricity line is not working possibly due to cable theft and thus the BCMM early warning system, the telemetric system, has not been working.
“The bush behind the pump station is so overgrown one cannot see if it’s overflowing or not.
“All the sewage of the whole of Cambridge Township is now going directly into the Nahoon River and into the yards of homes in the road that are down past the pump station.
“The poor lady living next to the pump station is suffering again from the unbearable stench and overflowing sewage.
“It’s an environmental disaster.” A resident living close to the pump station, who has had effluent overflowing into her yard on and off for years, said the latest overflow was the worst in years.
She said: “My children are prone to coughs and rashes because they are exposed to the sewage. This is a violation of our human rights where health is concerned. We can’t leave our house for fear we will come into contact with the sewage.”
Heiner Dominick, the CEO and founder of bio-remedial company BluePlant SA, said the unabated sewage overflows for the last three weeks into the Nahoon River would worsen the growth of water hyacinth, destroying the river’s ecosystems and increase the risk of E.coli, pathogens, cholera and other effluent-borne diseases.
In other parts of the city, Gloria Ricketts, 70, from Pefferville, is also considering taking further action against the municipality as her yard has once again become flooded with effluent despite having obtained a court order against the municipality last year to permanently address sewage overflows onto her property.
For almost six years, sewage has been overflowing into her yard, affecting her and her family’s health.
She said: “Nobody cares that we are living like this, least of all the municipality. My husband has been sick with a stomach bug that came directly from the sewage. His health was so bad he had to be put on a drip.
“We need a permanent solution to these overflows, not a temporary fix.”
Dominick decried the lack of funding as an excuse for municipal failure to attend to sewage issues and other vital services.
This week, the national department of water & sanitation opened 36 criminal cases against 26 municipalities as part of its drive to clean up the swamp of sewage spills in towns and cities in many parts of the country. The cases were opened against municipalities for repeated sewage spills or failing to comply with government clean-up directives.