Residents fuming over leaks
Two women living in different parts of Nelson Mandela Bay — in the suburbs and a township — are fuming over the municipality’s lacklustre ability to fix leaks.
Ntomboxolo Mbixane, who lives in Phambili Street, KwaNoxolo, has had to deal with a constant stench and raw sewage flowing into her property since last year.
“I don’t know how many times I have called the municipality to report the leak.
“We have children who suffer from skin problems because of this sewage and all the dirt that comes with water streaming down the streets,” she said.
Mbixane said she had reported the issue to her Ward 38 councillor, Edward Harker, who never offered to help with the problem.
“I feel like we have been abandoned by the municipality. Not even once have I seen a truck come to fix the leak.
“KwaNoxolo is filled with filth from leaking raw sewage mixed with clean water flowing down the streets,” she said.
Contacted by The Herald, Harker said manpower and a lack of resources to fix leaks were a problem. “We only have one plumber that is meant to accommodate five wards,” Harker said.
He said he often received complaints and escalated them to the municipality.
About 20km away from Mbixane’s house is Joy Leibach, 38, who lives in Barrow Road,
Kabega. Leibach said the municipality had dug up a verge near her property last year and water had started streaming out a few months later.
“We are not sure how long the pipes under the ground have been leaking, but since February we’ve noticed the leak and every day water streams out,” she said.
She said the water had started to flow into her garden.
“We have called the municipality numerous times and they always say they will escalate the complaint.
“We fear that the water may weaken the walls,” she said.
Leibach said she was concerned about the amount of clean water being wasted.
“The municipality is all about the water restrictions and drought yet there are thousands of litres wasted every day,” she said.
Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki said officials attending to water leaks were dependent on available resources, safety arrangements and tools.
He said a team had been notified about the leaks.
“We can guarantee that we will attend each leak that is reported.
“We are also worried that some residents choose to report their queries to the media rather than a call centre and this is not assisting in terms of the operations, monitoring and accountability,” Mniki said.
“We are hiring plumbing companies that will augment our workforce on the ground.”