City explains it isn’t dumping sewage in Hennops River

The City of Tshwane has denied claims sewage was being dumped into the Hennops River in Centurion, saying a video clip that was circulating on social media platforms was a waste vehicle with on-board equipment preparing to unblock a sewer pipeline.

Tshwane spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the Tshwane water and sanitation department in region four had identified a surcharging manhole along Hennops River.

“The city contracted Averda Sight Lines to investigate and unblock the sewer pipeline causing the surcharge and to mitigate the environmental risk.

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“Averda Sight Lines, a division of Averda South Africa specialising in CCTV pipe inspections and pipe cleaning, owns the truck on the said video,” Mashigo said.

He added the city contracted Averda’s technical CCTV inspection equipment to establish the exact cause of the blockage.

The truck in the video is designed to unblock pipelines, and was using high-pressure water-jetting into the sewer pipe via a manhole located close to the river bank.

Mashigo said Averda determined on April 10 that a concrete block was lodged in the sewer pipe, located at Witstinkhout and End Streets.

“The city is now making progress to divert the river flow in order to gain access and remove it. “We have confidence as the city that the contracted company, Averda, operates compliantly and with sustainable operating practices in dealing with the city,” Mashigo said.

He said the city wanted to assure the public that it would always comply with set standards of discarding sewage in a safe and responsible way, without posing any health risk to residents.