Durban - eThekwini Municipality mayor Mxolisi Kaunda and deputy chairperson of Human Settlements and Infrastructure Committee, Bheki Mngwengwe, conducted an oversight visit to Warner Beach and Kingsway pump stations on Monday.
The aim of the visit was to assess the progress on the repairs of sewer pump stations along the City’s coastline ahead of the festive season.
Kaunda said he was satisfied with the progress that has been made in replacing the old pumps which were extensively damaged during the floods last year. This damage contributed to the contamination of most beaches in the south of Durban, such as Warner Beach and Winkelspruit.
The mayor commended the City’s teams for the efforts they are putting in to repair the infrastructure damaged during the floods.
“As we prepare for the festive season, we have no doubt that our visitors will find our beaches operational and safe for swimming,” said Kaunda.
The municipality said the vast majority of bathing beaches in the City are open and safe for swimming.
“The municipality constantly monitors beach water quality across all its beaches and conducts tests frequently, these results are constantly changing, therefore a beach may be closed in the morning but re-opened the following day depending on the test results,” added that City.
Kaunda also assessed progress on the upgrade of two Water Reservoirs in Adams (Reservoir 5 and 6) which are 80% and 75% complete, respectively.
The City said the R60 million projects are due for completion in November and will improve water supply in Adams, Mbumbulu, KwaMakhutha, Nsimbini and Folweni.
Kaunda was also happy with the progress of the construction of the Inteke Bridge which is now complete. Currently, the municipality is finalising plans to begin with the upgrade of a 4 kilometre road from gravel to tar, which will link Nteke, Pinetown, Ngonyameni and seven schools in the area.
He said the fact that internal staff were used to design road infrastructure repairs projects that the City is undertaking, has helped fast-track some of the repairs.
However, Kaunda raised a concern about the actions of some residents and businesses, who incorrectly dispose of waste in the City’s sewage system.
The mayor said some residents and businesses are negligent, particularly food outlets, which continue to abuse the sewer system by disposing of fats and other foreign objects into the sewer system.
He said this results in the clogging of sewer pumps, causing serious blockages.
“To address this challenge, municipal officials will conduct law enforcement operations in these food outlets, primarily to ensure that they have fat traps in their systems,” said Kaunda.
The City cautioned residents and businesses against the insertion of any alien objects into the sewage system. This was found to be one of the reasons for pump malfunctions.
“Technicians often find things like building rubble, clothes, disposable nappies and even towels in the sewer system, which causes pumps to malfunction,” it said.
The City said the mayor would continue to conduct oversight visits across all beaches and monitor storm damage repairs, including sewer pump stations that are impacting on eThekwini beaches and rivers, in the days ahead.
