Durban resident fed up with foul smell

A NAUSEATING smell, believed to be emanating from a wastewater treatment plant, has made it unbearable for residents to breathe normally and get on with their day.

Residents in Dawncliffe, Glenpark, Moseley and Paradise Valley are pleading with the municipality to take this matter seriously as despite numerous emails and messages sent by many residents, the matter has still not been resolved.

“We smell the putrid sewage reek lingering around on a daily basis with some days being worse than others,” said a resident, Shannon Edward’s.

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Shannon said some days are just unbearable.

“This surely can not be safe for our health especially for younger children and the elderly,” she said.

Shannon said they have sent complaints to various management teams and ward councillors who have also tried to get to the bottom of this to no avail.

“We have heard that the smell is coming from Umbilo Reservoir due to lack of maintenance and many other problems,” added Shannon.Another resident, said the smell in the last week was absolutely awful.

“It is coming right through the whole of our house. Its really, really bad, this needs to be dealt with soon, we are all going to get sick if we are not already,” she added.

Marinus du Plessis from Glenpark, said he drove to Moseley.

“It is far worse when you drive on the main road past the businesses. I have no idea how those residents can handle it, especially the old age home close to Moseley train station. This can’t be good for the elderly,” said Marinus.

Ward 18 councillor, Melanie Brauteseth said she shares the concerns of the residents and have continuously escalated these issues to the relevant officials and also the acting municipal manager of eThekwini Municipality.

“Unfortunately the only response I have received is that the municipality has depleted its budget and thus cannot allocate resources to this problem.”

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Brauteseth said it was completely unacceptable and will not stand.

“This wastewater treatment plant should have been maintained on a regular basis over the years and its proper functioning should not be dependant on a once-off allocation of funding,” said the councillor.

Brauteseth said she will escalate this critical issue to a provincial and national level.

“It is a complete insult and injury to residents and the natural environment alike that this state of affairs has arisen. The Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation is the upper guardian of water in South Africa and I will hold her accountable for this crisis,” said Brauteseth.

The eThekwini Municipality was emailed questions regarding this matter but the Highway Mail did not receive any comment by the time of going to print.

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