This is according to an environmentalist who wants to remain anonymous. He believes that if the ageing sewer infrastructure is not repaired urgently, local tourist attractions will have to close shop. Let’s Change Ba-Phalaborwa Community Forum, an organisation fighting for the rights of the local community, says their attempts to engage the municipality about the sewage problem, have been to no avail.
Kim Duverge from the forum told the Herald that the severity of this issue has resulted in sewage spilling into stormwater drains and severely affecting the two largest tourism estates, on the Koper Road. The one lodge has been affected severely and has only been able to operate at 10% occupation for the last months as the chalets situated at the bottom end of the property have been closed to customers due to a horrific stench.
Also read: Sewage manhole making life hard for community members
“We have multiple dams on our property that are fed by stormwater drains in the surrounding area and due to the constant sewerage overflows, that sewage ultimately enters the drains that feed our dam network,” says lodge manager. “These once beautiful clear dams teemed with birdlife and were a huge attraction to guests. They are now filled with stinking algae and duckweed-covered sewage ponds.” He says the odour, especially at night, is unbearable and causes an unpleasant experience for guests.
“On several recent occasions we have had guests check out early because of it,”he added. He further says that they recently hired a large pump after sewage overflowed into their second dam. They pumped water from this dam into their water-borne system to try and prevent further overflow, but it resulted in a blockage further down the estate that flooded their gardens with sewage. “The situation is dire for us, I am deeply concerned about the future of our tourism business,” he adds.
Also read: Bad odour stinks up Phalaborwa
Further concerns of the forum are that the sewage ends up in the Tshutsi River in the Kruger National Park (KNP) and the Massingir Dam in Mozambique. Duverge also points out that continuous spillages are experienced on the corner of Aalwyn and Blackwood Street, as well as in Soetdoring Street and Park Street, and on the corner of De Kuiper and Frederick Van Wyk Street.
A homeowner whose drain spilled sewage in his yard could not get the municipality to repair his drain for three weeks, he had to hire a private plumber to fix the drain. The Herald reached out to Jonas Mahesu, spokesperson of the Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality for comment. He had to first consult with officials before he could respond to the matter. His response will be published once received.
