Durban — Residents of eThekwini’s ward 66 on the Bluff are up in arms over the sewer crisis which they claim has turned them into “prisoners in their own homes” due to the horrid smell.
Kim Parsons of Armstrong Road, said: “This ongoing problem doesn’t seem to be coming to an end. The sewage lines on Armstrong Road are popping, and this leads us to a major dilemma. Due to the stench, we do not open our windows anymore.”
She added that when the pipelines do get fixed, it’s done quickly and usually burst open again the next day; and this affects things like having visitors or even taking out their cars from their driveways.
“Emotionally, it feels like we’re paying for a service that isn’t getting delivered. When you speak to the plumbers, nobody gives the extra percent as to how it’s affecting us. There are days we don’t open windows and days where it comes out through our wash basins. I’ve also experienced health issues like vomiting.”
Parsons said the residents had become prisoners in their own homes. Another resident, who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of being victimised, said the sewer problem had been ongoing for close to two years.
“Only in the last eight months, has it intensified and in the last three weeks, surging within 30 minutes of the line being jetted by the municipality,” the resident said.
The resident said that his wall was in jeopardy of collapsing and that he had spoken to the contractors who were coming on site.
“On one occasion the contractor installed a smaller pipe and I think that is what is causing the constant blockage as the size of the pipe is not correct for the load it is carrying,” he said.
The resident said with expertise in mechanical engineering, he told the contractor of his wrongdoing, to which the contractor responded that he was doing what he had been told.
Bluff Ratepayers & Residents’ Association (BRRA) vice-chairperson, Allison Schoeman said that there was a sewage crisis in the area.
“For the last few months, we’ve been engaging with the acting chief operations officer – Mavuso Tshabalala – and he usually says that the budget is the issue.”
She added that she recently called the municipal engineer to observe one of the problem areas and was told that repairs needed to come out of the capital budget – the same budget that has been questioned in recent months. It was recently reported that the National Treasury had declined the R1.2 billion roll-over, however, the City is awaiting the Treasury’s final decision.
Schoeman said that some of these problems were ongoing for as long as eight years.
“In August 2023, the BRRA sent a letter to the municipality citing various issues such as sewage, electricity and infrastructure in the ward 66 area. Another letter was sent on November 1 (Wednesday), to the eThekwini Municipality to further emphasise on the sewage crisis in the ward,” Schoeman said.
EThekwini Municipality spokesperson, Gugu Sisilana said teams would be dispatched to investigate and attend to the problem.
She appealed to residents to refrain from disposing of items such as tampons, condoms, diapers, and oil into the sewage system.
Sisilana said that over 70% of manholes were clogged because of alien objects disposed of in the systems, and the incidents that the City had responded to in the area, were no exception.
“We attend to such blockages on numerous occasions and we soon get reports in the same area.”
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Daily News