Fears of future rain for Pinetown factory owner

A business owner in Pinetown continues to suffer the consequences of the April floods with a fear of future rains that might cause more damage. This is because of a broken sewerage pipe spewing sewage into the Palmiet River and allegedly holding up the repair to the factory on 39 Halifax Road in Pinetown.
Owner of the factory Gary Raath said this broken pipe is not getting the urgent attention that it needs from the eThekwini Water and Sewage Department.

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“After the April floods, our factory at 39 Halifax Road, which borders the Palmiet River, incurred serious damage. Our precast wall collapsed; our factory building was compromised. We contacted our insurance company and assigned an engineer to conduct an investigative report. The engineer’s findings established that the municipal sewer line at the factory’s rear was broken, resulting in sewage spilling into the Palmiet River.
“Our insurance company advised that they cannot touch municipal property, and the repair of the pipe fell to the municipality. On July 4, 2022, I lodged a complaint with the municipality to repair the damaged sewer pipe where I got a reference number,” said Raath.

He said the response was a visit of a team of municipal employees to the factory. “They agreed that the pipe damaged was in need of urgent repair. They further stated that the repair job was above their level of authority. They told me they were returning to their department to complete a full report on their findings.” Raath said they didn’t get back to him after 10 days, and the pipe hasn’t been fixed to date.

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“I met with the supervisor, among many other meetings we’ve had – our last one on August 19 when the municipal contractors did not return as promised. The supervisor messaged to say he is now waiting for feedback from his supervisor. Once again the solution to the problem remains unresolved,” he said.

He said his frustration is that until the repair to the sewerage pipe is concluded, they cannot commence with the repair to their damaged factory or build the retaining wall needed. “My concern is that further heavy rains might cause more damage, resulting in our business shutting down in the safety interests of our staff. The harmful effects caused to humans and animals resulting from sewage spilling into the Palmiet River could have devastating consequences,” he said.

The eThekwini Municipality was not available for comment by the time of publishing.