Watch: Residents urged to stop discharging waste water onto roads
According to councillors Lornette Jospeh and Nicola da Silva, this is a violation of the Ekurhuleni Metro’s by-law on waste water.
Councillors Lornette Joseph from Ward 27 and Nicola da Silva from Ward 24 are pleading with residents to stop discharging water and waste from their swimming pools, boreholes and septic tanks onto the roads.
This causes serious damage to road infrastructure.
This comes after they were both inundated with complaints from residents concerned about large potholes, filled with water, on Moodie Street in Rynfield.
According to the councillors, the depth of the potholes has rendered the street unusable, as it posed a risk to motorists.
“We want to encourage residents to not discharge any water on the roads. Besides this being a health hazard, it damages the infrastructure,” da Silva said.
They also stated that this was a violation of Ekurhuleni City’s by-law on waste water.
The by-law reads, ‘no person is allowed to discharge or allow for the discharge of water from any swimming pool directly or indirectly over any road or into a gutter, storm-water drain, watercourse, open ground or private premises other than the premises of the owner of such swimming pool’.
Also Read: Road users call for more to be done as potholes multiply
Joseph told the City Times that she had an on-site meeting with the City’s Roads Department on May 19 to check the depth of the damage.
She said the department discovered that water was coming from nearby residences where holes had been drilled on concrete barriers while in some instances, the barriers had been removed to discharge water onto the road.
According to Joseph, council has found a short-term solution to the problem as the road was used daily by parents who are transporting their children to and from St Dunstan’s College.
“The potholes further down on this road are going to be repaired. However, this cannot be tarred until the problem is solved. The department will place gravel and stones to help residents in the short term.
“They are trying to find solutions for us and as soon as the water on the street dries up, they are going to tar the road.”
Da Silva urged residents to refrain from destroying municipal infrastructure.
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