Despite Merafong City Local Municipality’s promises to respect the environment, it continue to dump sewage.
Two weeks ago, the Herald reported that an observant resident had spotted municipal employees or contractors emptying their honey-sucker truck next to Station Street near Annan Road in Carletonville. Although there was a maintenance hole, most of the sewage landed on the ground.
Last week, an opposition party councillor from Khutsong, Mr Welile Fihla, provided a video and photos of someone dumping sewage from a honey-sucker truck into the storm water canal near Mbulelo Primary School in Khutsong. The community also complained of similar dumping into a sinkhole near Maselwane’s Place in Batswaneng.
On Thursday afternoon, another opposition party councillor, Mr Tollie Lubbe from Welverdiend, called the Herald about people dumping sewage near the Wonderfonteinspruit.
The resident who witnessed the dumping, Mr Russell Smith, pointed out where this pollution was happening between 26th Avenue and the Wonderfonteinspruit.
“I was working in my yard when I heard the truck drive past at around 13:30.
“I checked and saw a big white truck with a sign on the side,” Smith told the Herald.
Smith says he had previously seen the municipality dumping sewage in the area and could point out exactly where it had happened. About an hour later, the dumping location was still easily visible to the right of a gravel road extending from 17th Street.
Smith pointed out the remnants of sewage, also from honey-suckers, at two more sites a bit further from the river. Smith had spotted a truck dumping at one on Monday, 16 October.
“I called the mayor, and she responded after talking to officials. She told me they said they had dumped the sewage into a maintenance hole on 27th Avenue. There is no 27th Avenue in Welverdiend, and one can see they had dumped the sewage was dumped on the ground in an area where there is no maintenance hole nearby,” complains Lubbe.
Smith also complained bitterly about the dumping as his family sometimes smells sewage from his home.
The municipality previously said it was taking care of the problem and denied that it was dumping sewage into sinkholes.
The Herald asked them again about how they planned to address the dumping on Tuesday.
“It is a collapsed maintenance hole,” was the strange answer from the acting municipal marketing and communications manager, Ms Nomonde Mahube. She reminded residents to direct all service delivery complaints and enquiries to the municipal call centre at (018) 788 9990 or via WhatsApp at 082 516 0794.
