Contractors for the Merafong City Local Municipality started the most recent project to sort out the area’s sewage system earlier last year. However, the residents say the municipality had simply sent contractors to rework the same area for which they had paid several other contractors to do repairs in the past few years. To make matters worse these new contractors also appear to have left their worksite some weeks ago already. “We don’t know if the municipality will ever get this right. Six companies have been here and the problems persist,” says a resident of the area, Mr Chucku Kerileng. To him, it seems as if each contractor is called in to fix the blunders for which the previous ones were paid. As an example, he showed the Herald where one of the contractors had tried to fix a maintenance hole on top of two sewage pipes with shoddy brickwork. He also pointed to sewage that had been left to leak into the veld near Hlanganani Primary School again. The area is known to be prone to sinkholes.
To the municipality’s advantage, they are now using honeysucker trucks to try and get rid of some of the excess sewage from the area. The main road to the school has been dug up and cannot be used until the last contractors fix it. The learners now have to walk through the dangerous abandoned building site to get to and from school. The Herald took the concerns to the municipality. “The outfall sewer crossing Nwanzwa Street opposite Hlanganani School draining area has failed due to dolomitic activity, resulting in back ponding of the sewer into the residential area. Funding has been secured and a contractor was appointed to replace the broken pipe. The project was delayed as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown but should be completed soon. This will address most of the sewer challenges in Extension 3. A line has collapsed and the consultant is still busy investigating. The project will proceed as soon as the investigation is done,” she says.
