City workers don’t want to get their hands dirty
WHEN I hear a “shhh” sound that the cars make as they go up and down our street, it normally tells me that there is water on the road or that it’s raining.
But not today. Once again, the sewer line on Hendry Road is blocked but this time it’s for more than a month, off and on (off for a week and then on for an hour).
Numerous attempts by the eThekwini Municipality at clearing it were in vain.
The first time I met the city crew, they packed up and were gone in 16 seconds and when I enquired if it was cleared, they responded that the road was too busy. This was despite the overflowing manhole being located on the pavement – about four meters from the road. Amid deaf ears, I try to tell them that this is the M17 and that it is always busy. All this happened in 16 seconds.
I called the eThekwini Municipality and so did others, but the problem was not resolved. Their excuses included that they tried but they could not clear the sewer line and that they were waiting for the truck with the jetting machine.
But I think they don’t want to get their hands dirty. You cannot work from home or online to clear this line. I even got the area’s councillor to intervene. This approachable poor fellow says he is trying his best, but irate residents are still abusing him on WhatsApp.
This is a little better than what is getting thrown on everybody else on Hendry Road.
I even contacted a friendly guy at the Health Department, who promised to try and speed up the process. Most service departments have learnt a new five-letter dirty word “Covid” as an excuse.
This overflowing manhole is 50 metres from my home but there is a stream of human faeces all the way down to my home – as it mixes with the stormwater manhole.
IKBAL MOOSA
Morningside