Longstanding Durban North sewage leak frustrates resident
A local resident said both herself and elderly father (91) have had to deal with raw sewage flowing into their garden prompting health hazard concerns
AN Edgeley Road resident said she is prepared to take the City to court for its failure to attend to a sewage leak on her property. Penny Paul said she has had to take drastic measures to ensure the driveway leading to her home doesn’t collapse due to the subsequent sinkhole which has formed.
According to Paul the broken sewage (servitude) pipe which feeds from the properties above her home was responsible for the sinkhole.
The local resident said both herself and elderly father (91) have had to deal with raw sewage flowing into their garden prompting health hazard concerns. “It started out as a dip in the driveway and we thought nothing of it but when the heavy rains hit Durban then the dip turned into a sinkhole.
When I initially reported the problem I was aware there was a lot of damage that the municipality was dealing with so we waited. The first person who arrived to ‘fix the problem’ was a worker who came to unblock the sewage, which was not the problem at all.
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“After contacting the City on multiple occasions we had the relevant department come to assess the damaged. They stated the pipe was broken and it needed to be fixed and this they said, would take up to two weeks. That was in April. No one has come to fix the problem despite repeated calls and the ward councillor’s intervention,” she said. Paul said she had been subjected to ‘gross incompetency of the various departments involved’.
One of her main concerns is her father, Leon Nicholson, who also lives on the property and is receiving treatment for colon cancer.
“My father is receiving chemo treatment and his immune system is compromised and I’m concerned for his health. His health could be further compromised by the bacteria coming out of the sewage,” she said.
Paul has also had to fill the hole herself in order to use the driveway.
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She has sent an email to the City saying if the problem was not rectified in 15 working days since it was reported in March then she would bring in a contractor and the bill will be sent to the municipality.
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