Tanglewood Estate residents endure horrible stench amid ongoing sewage leak
Ward 94 councillor David Foley acknowledges the problem, blaming the deteriorated state of the infrastructure at a pumping station as the root cause.
For over 10 days a relentless flow of sewerage has been pouring into the Jukskei River, which residents of Lonehill have called a time-ticking bomb for environmental disaster, posing a severe threat to the ecosystem if not attended to.
The source of the pollution is a malfunctioning pump station at the bottom of Beverley, in the Tanglewood Estate, which has been spewing toxic waste into the river.
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Despite repeated reports to Johannesburg Water, the leak remains unresolved to date.
Ward 94 councillor David Foley has acknowledged the ongoing sewage leak, revealing that the pump station responsible for the issue has been plagued by recurrent problems despite repeated repairs.
He said this has been going on for two years.
The root cause, according to Foley, lies in the deteriorated state of the infrastructure, which has rendered the pump station increasingly unreliable and prone to failure.
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“I did reach out to Joburg Water and they did come here a few times to fix it. But unfortunately the repairs would only last for a short time before it would burst again. We have now decided to revamp the pump station because it is old. A plan has been put in place to get it up and running again even though it might take a little while. I understand the stench is horrible for the residents at the moment, but we are working on it.”
Foley said he cannot divulge the plan, since he is not sure if it is information that is available to the public as yet.
When reached out for comment, Nolwazi Dlamini, from Johannesburg Water, acknowledged to the receipt of the media query and promised to revert with more information after consulting with relevant depot. None was forthcoming at the time of going to print.
The article will be updated once the information has been received.
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