Sewage spills: uMhlanga resident demands action
An uMhlanga resident has called for a ward-based analysis and transparency on service providers to address the challenges of inferior infrastructure repairs in the eThekwini Municipality.
Barbara Jellis made the suggestion after sewer pump stations malfunctioned in the area around Shelbourne Avenue and Ronan Road – affecting air quality as well as causing pipelines to back up.
Jellis said for more than a week, sewage has been pouring across the lawned verge on Armstrong Avenue and flowing down to the M4 bridge in La Lucia.
She added that the pump houses are not coping and that sewage is flowing into stormwater drains, which are affecting the beaches near Homeford Drive.
eThekwini Ward 35 councillor Bradley Singh said this posed a serious health risk to residents, wildlife, and marine ecosystems. He claimed that the sanitation department did not have the capacity to address the issue on Ronan Road.
Jellis said wastewater from the pump station has to be manually extracted regularly. Residents often notice trucks pumping out wastewater to clear the pump station to make space for additional flow.
“This is the business district of eThekwini and to have raw sewage flowing down the road is unacceptable and a deep cause for concern,” she said.
“The stench has become unbearable. Businesses and residents pay exorbitant amounts of rates and other services, yet we continue to have this problem. It is the same with the repairs of water pipes and recurring leaks. Our street lights work during the day, wasting electricity, and are off at night. Many are not working at all,” Jellis said.
“It is time for serious dialogue and action. Each ward needs a list of the service providers, what their contractual obligations are, and who is responsible for them. What is actually going on and where is the accountability and responsibility.
“Surely it is time for us to have a transparent relationship and how we can come to a resolution on where money is spent. Why are we repairing a pipe in lengths instead of the entire pipeline?” Jellis asked.
Singh said it is a critical issue that is affecting residents and their environment.
“It is unacceptable for any community to tolerate this kind of pollution. Our oceans are vital to the planet’s health. They provide us with resources, beauty, and recreation. But when sewage makes its way into these waters, it endangers marine life and disrupts the delicate balance of our ecosystem and increases the E.coli levels in our water posing a health risk to swimmers,” Singh said.
According to correspondence Singh received from the municipality, the Shelbourne Avenue Pump Station is currently offline because repairs are being made to the rising main.
eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said the eThekwini Water and Sanitation (EWS) teams were on site working on fixing the wastewater pipe burst at Homeford Wastewater Pump Station’s rising main, which caused the spillage.
Sisilana said contractors will also attend to the Shelbourne rising main later, which has also been broken. There is also the Pencarrow pipe repair works that will be attended to on Monday.
“All these repairs are within the same vicinity. This is due to varying pressures on the pipes from time to time which causes damages,” she said.
zainul.dawood@inl.co.za