City’s neglect turns Umbilo business district into cesspool of crime and grime
The city has been accused of failing to maintain the Umbilo busness district which is awash with sewage spilling out of manholes and unfinished roadworks.
Ian Campbell-Gillies shows sewage which is leaking out of a manhole outside a business in Magwaza Maphalala Road.
WITH the apparent disintegration of service delivery in the Umbilo business area, the Umbilo Business Forum (UBF) has been forced to look into the development of the first private urban improvement precinct (UIP) as the best way to return the area to viability.
So says Ian Campbell-Gillies, policy director for the UBF.
He said despite the R100 million rates bill paid by businesses in the area each year, there appeared to be no interest on the part of the city in the upkeep and maintenance of the area.
Unfinished roadworks at the intersection of Dalton and Magwaza Maphalala Roads.
Campbell-Gillies took Berea Mail on a drive around the area, pointing out unfinished roadworks, filth, broken pavements, litter and rivers of sewage flowing unchecked along roads in the precinct. He also claimed the area was being controlled by immigrants.
Ian Campbell-Gillies shows sewage which is leaking out of a manhole outside a business in Magwaza Maphalala Road.Rivers of sewage near Dalton Hostel.
One of the stops in the drive-round was to a business in Magwaza Maphalala (Gale) Street, where sewage could be seen bubbling from a manhole outside the business entrance and was being tracked into the business by vehicles driving through the sewage and into the premises.
“I reported this to South Durban Basin Area Based Management and people came out to inspect, but they left, saying they couldn’t open the drain. We gave them a deadline of Friday to sort out the problem, but nothing has been done,” he said.
Sewage which is leaking out of a manhole outside a business in Magwaza Maphalala Road is being tracked inside the premises.
Business owner, Gasen Naidoo, said the smell was terrible and they had to keep cleaning up, although it wasn’t helping.
“Workers came, banged around a bit and left, but nothing has been fixed. I had to get a new reference number then, and have since heard, following a conversation with the ward councillor, that the case was closed on Friday, with a contractor being paid for nothing, as it hasn’t been sorted out,” said Naidoo.
Naidoo said this was only one of his gripes.
He said it had been 13 months since he had reported the fact that street lights were not working, and nothing had been done to fix this.
“I have had the windows of my business smashed and there are people loitering outside my premises, which affects my business,” he said.
An elderly man is forced to walk through rivers of sewage near Dalton Hostel.
A drive down Dalton Road and into Sydney Road showed more of the same – blocked drains overflowing with sewage, watching as people are forced to walk through the mess, many of whom live in the nearby hostel.
At the UBF AGM last November, feedback was given regarding a proposed UIP which was investigated for the area.
The UBF researched the viability of becoming a UIP and many property owners were canvassed at the end of 2017 and in early 2018.
At the end of the process there were distinct problems leading to a decision not to embark on this rates-based funding route, however Campbell-Gillies said something would need to be established privately.
“The municipal neglect in the area is monstrous and the inactivity appears to border on malicious, as if there is the intention to obstruct business in the area. The UBF complaint is that it is no longer worth paying rates if there is no service delivery,” he said.
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