Sewage spill of grave concern in Hoedspruit

This is contrary to what Marie Helm, the DA’s Limpopo deputy leader, says. According to her, sewage is still overflowing in Hoedspruit despite the fact that the DA has opened a criminal case against the MDM. She says the MDM’s failure to resolve the massive and continuous sewage spills in the town is an indictment against the management of MDM. An oversight visit by the DA revealed major problems at both the Leguan pump station and the last manhole before the Hoedspruit Air Force Base (AFB). “Of grave concern is the continuous pollution at the wall of the AFB.

The manhole before the pipe enters the base’s residential area where the treatment works are located, has continued to overflow despite an attempt by the municipality to mitigate the problem by building a bigger manhole and replacing blocked pipes,” says Helm. She says that raw sewage is running into the veld at the AFB, possibly contaminating groundwater sources and causing pollution in the area.

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“The raw sewage spill at the wall of the AFB has created a sewage dam, this creates a favourable breeding ground for mosquitoes and a malaria outbreak cannot be ruled out as the sewage dam is adjacent to the living quarters of the base.” Helm says the spill threatens the wellbeing of other species such as birds that are foraging in the sewage, an unhealthy environment for bird life and other small animals.

“The standby generator at the main pump of the Leguan pump station remains unrepaired and is a disaster waiting to happen with the increased load-shedding,” she says. She adds that following the DA’s efforts to open a criminal case, MDM implemented measures to mitigate the sewage spill at the pump station. According to her, the long grass was cut, litter was removed, the pipe that was exposed was buried, temporary pipes were replaced with the correct size pipes, and both pumps are currently in working order.

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“Extensive rehabilitation is required to clear the large volume of raw sewage, and the main gate of the AFD that has been closed for over four weeks cannot reopen unless the sewage is cleared and the area professionally rehabilitated. “The standby generator at the Leguan pump station must either be replaced or repaired as increased load-shedding will result in sewage backup that will cause more spills,” she says. Odas Ngobeni, spokesperson of MDM told the Herald that the Hoedspruit sewer problem has been resolved as previously indicated.