Durban — Merewent residents say they are frustrated by constant sewage leaks in their properties allegedly emanating from the Southern Wastewater Treatment Works.
Sirini Naidoo, a resident from Umarcot Crescent, said the problem had been consistent for more than three months, and despite residents reporting the issue to the municipality nothing tangible was being done to resolve the problem. Naidoo claimed sewer water was flowing into some residents’ properties leaving a “horrible, foul smell”.
Naidoo said municipal teams arrived at the site, inspected the area and left without addressing the problem.
“This past Saturday we sent a direct message to the mayor threatening to escalate the matter to the premier’s office,” said Naidoo.
He said the community was living in fear because this was a huge health hazard.
“People cannot even host gatherings in their yards because of the stench. For example, a neighbour wanted to host an engagement party at her home, but she had to rent a hall because the smell was just unbearable. This is scary because people are going to get sick.”
Another resident, Neville Moodley, said he suspected that this problem was caused by the ageing sewage infrastructure. He said they did not encounter this problem when the municipality sent teams to clear blockages on the sewer pipes.
“The scary part is that this is an ongoing issue and we do not know how long it is going to persist. Our hope as the community is that the municipality could attend to this issue urgently.”
EThekwini Municipality spokesperson Lindiwe Khuzwayo said the City was aware of the sewer blockages. Khuzwayo said the municipality would never win the war against clogged manholes unless residents changed their behaviour.
Khuzwayo said that in most areas investigations had revealed that manholes were clogged because of alien objects disposed of in the system, and the incident in Merewent was no exception.
“We attend to such leaks on numerous occasions, and as soon we turn our backs we go back to square one. We are therefore appealing to residents to refrain from using newspapers in their toilets and to stop the disposal of items such as tampons, condoms, nappies and oil in our system. These are all the things that our teams are always retrieving when attending to clogged manholes. The community itself must do their part or this will continue to be a moving target for the City,” said Khuzwayo.
She said teams would be dispatched to investigate and attend to the matter in Merewent. | Additional reporting by Nqobile Masimula.
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