Five years of customer documents stored at the Bedfordview Licence Department were lost when a room at the offices flooded under sewage.
The incident occurred in early October, but when the NEWS visited the department with Ward 20 councillor Jill Humphreys last week, the issue had not been completely resolved.
Sewage could be seen flowing out of a drainpipe situated next to a storage office.
It appeared as though attempts were made to re-route the effluent into neighbouring drainage systems surrounding the property.
The result was that sewage freely flowed across Skeen Boulevard towards the Bedfordview Clinic.
At the clinic, the re-routed sewage flowed through the parking area, where visitors, including mothers with young children, waited to gain access to the property.
Humphreys said from the clinic the effluent was routed towards the solid waste and parks departments.
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“I have requested that the offices be evacuated until the problem can be resolved for good.
“Our officials are forced to sit outside as it is not safe to enter the building in its present state. The ingress was so bad that it was seeping through the walls. The severity of this incident should trigger an inspection of the integrity of the building,” Humphreys said.
“The department has been having such issues for a number of years, yet nothing is done to rectify the problem permanently,” she said.
In response to an inquiry sent to the City of Ekurhuleni, spokesperson for the City, Themba Gadebe, said the matter was brought to the attention of the real estate department and was under investigation by engineers.
He said a preliminary investigation revealed that storm water is not flowing properly and as a result, it adversely impacted the sewerage system.
“All attempts are being made to unblock the drain. Investigations are being conducted to establish the source of the problem. Thereafter it will be clear as to whether the problem could be permanently fixed,” Gadebe said.
He added that the City’s engineers will also determine whether the sewerage system leading to the department has to be completely redesigned.
“The CoE engineers, through investigations, will be in a better position to determine whether there is a design flaw,” he said.
The NEWS also questioned whether the building meets the necessary building inspection compliances with regards to health, safety and sanitation.
“The engineers will determine as to the compliance, based on the latest developments. We have never experienced such complications of sewerage blockage persisting like this,” Gadebe said.
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