Sewage stink in Elfindale

The City of Cape Town has yet again made an appeal to residents to not block up sewer systems with foreign objects.

Elfindale residents say they’ve reported sewage leaks with raw sewage running into the street since November but the problem is still ongoing.

Edgemere Road resident Dave Sassman had been reporting the problem since last year but said City workers had not been at the site until last week when he was informed that the leak emanated from the pump station up the road from his premises.

He said the sewage runs in the street in front of his property and was told by a plumber that the leakage is coming from the industrial side.

“I made several calls and they took forever to respond. The situation was and is still terrible, especially over the festive period when we had people over. We hope the situation is addressed soon,” said Mr Sassman.

Another resident, Walter Jansen, said the ongoing issue should have been resolved by the City last year when it was reported.

“It’s a problem when City services are not servicing how they should. It has been nearly three moths and nothing has been done about it but a back and forth between us calling and logging service requests - surely this should have been fixed by now,” said Mr Jansen.

Mayoral committee member for water and sanitation, Zahid Badroodien, said the department teams attended to five service requests in Edgemere Road, Elfindale, since November last year, with three of the incidents related to foreign objects blocking the sewer network.

“The most recent request was logged on 13 January 2025 and attended to on 14 January 2025, where a leak was detected on the 100mm water pipeline due to tree roots impacting on the infrastructure,” said Mr Badroodien.

Although the leak had not been fixed by the time of Southern Mail’s publication, he said the issue has been prioritised.

Responding to claims that the area is often plagued by sewage blockage, Mr Badroodien said the area does not often see service requests for sewer blockages, but the ones that are logged are usually linked to foreign objects in the network.

“Residents are reminded that they can help prevent sewer blockages and overflows by ensuring only the three Ps (pee, poop and (toilet) paper) are disposed of in the toilet and no other objects are allowed to enter the sewer system.”

The City also advised that residents should log their service requests as soon as they can. A reference number will be provided to enable the resident and City staff to follow up on its progress.

“Speaking directly to staff or otherwise going around this complaints system won’t result in quicker responses. It can even result in unnecessary delays if complaints are submitted to offices that do not normally deal with them,” he said.

Service requests can be logged via WhatsApp 060 018 1505; online www.capetown.gov.za/servicerequests; email water@capetown.gov.za; SMS 31373 (maximum 160 characters. Standard rates apply); or call 0860 103 089 or visit a City walk-in centre - visit www.capetown.gov.za/facilities to find the one closest to you.