It’s definitely not water under the bridge
Chriszanne Janse van Vuuren
In response to the Graaff-Reinet Residents and Ratepayers Association's (GRRPA) concern about the sewage spill at the Kroonvale sewage pump station, municipal spokesperson Edwardine Abader said the municipality’s electrical maintenance team attended to repairs after the electrical breakdown at this pump station between October and November last year but was unsuccessful. “Specialised services were required, and therefore a formal invitation to quote was advertised for seven days and a service provider was subsequently appointed,” she said.
Repair delays
According to the GRRPA, the municipality's claim that the problem arose between October and November last year is false and misleading. They say that they raised this issue, together with several other issues related to leaks that have repeatedly been reported to the municipality, in August already after the GRRPA member tasked with infrastructure liaison noticed a honeysucker truck suctioning sewage from the pump station. This reportedly followed a break-in at the Kroonvale pump station in July when electrical installations were vandalised and stolen, causing the facility to be dysfunctional.
According to the GRRPA they monitored the situation after they first reported it in August and approached the municipality again in September. They claim that the infrastructure department only informed the electrical department about the problem on 7 September, and on the same date a notice informing residents of the electrical breakdown at the pump station was published by the municipality.
At the time the municipality said the electrical maintenance team was trying to resolve the problem and Super Sucker Trucks would be deployed to prevent any further spillage.
As stated by Abader, the electrical department’s attempt to fix the problem was, in fact, unsuccessful and the work had to be outsourced. According to the GRRPA, quotes were obtained and submitted to Municipal Manager Edward Rankwana on 8 September.
Sewage disaster
In the meantime, the situation at the pump station was reaching crisis point. In
October, sewage started gushing out of the manhole next to the old bridge, flooding the area and running into the Sundays River. Reportedly, two tankers continued to extract sewage from the river daily – seven to eight loads per day – and two more tankers were cleaning up elsewhere in town. In addition to the environmental concerns, the cost of using an external service provider was another primary concern for the GRRPA. The GRRPA member therefore continued to enquire into the matter and was later told that a tender for the necessary repairs has been awarded on 20 November. However, no evidence of such a tender could be found on the municipality’s website. The first record of a tender advertisement appearing on the municipality’s website is 1 December, but evidently the service provider could not commence with the work over the festive season.
In January, the GRRPA member observed that the tankers were still on site at the pump station and by this time the situation has turned into a huge environmental disaster
(as reported in Sewage spill turns into 'eau de woe' - Graaff-Reinet Advertiser,
Repairs and rehabilitation
The GRRPA says the municipality also made a false statement when it said that everything had been repaired and that the site was rehabilitated in the second week of
January. When the GRRPA, accompanied by Graaff-Reinet Advertiser editor Sonia Wahl, visited the pump station during the third week of January, sewage overflow could be seen all over the site.
According to them, the municipality only started their runaround to rectify the situation after this visit, because GraaffReinet Advertiser was now involved.
When GRRPA and People for Basic Rights (P4BR) representatives made a follow-up visit on 31 January, repairs at the pump station and rehabilitation had begun. The pump station was operational, but dammedup sewage still needed to be removed from the Sundays River. The liquid flowing into the river still required further investigation.
Expense
As stated by Abader, the electrical department’s attempt to fix the problem was, in fact, unsuccessful and the work had to be outsourced.
Regarding the GRRPA’s concern about cost, it has been established that the sewerage expenditure for the first six months of the municipal financial year – July to December last year, amounted to R12 238 438. The R9 000 502 that was spent on the sewage reticulation network during this period raises serious questions, particularly considering the challenges outlined above.
Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality was requested to comment on the timeline as articulated by the GRRPA in this regard. Their response will be published as soon as it is received.