Briardene sewage leak causes a stink

RAW sewage gushes down Krishna Road as taxi drivers rank and residents of the Briadene Informal Settlement walk past.

Health concerns already piqued by the Covid-19 pandemic are heightened by the unsanitary street which is beginning to deteriorate as the leak continues to flow after two months.

What’s more, there is another leak on Clara Road, where raw sewage has been leaking onto the road for three months.

“We are worried because we are facing this virus. With the sewage leak, our children are not safe, even ourselves, we are not safe, our health is at risk. I don’t know how the municipality works, I don’t think they are working. We are very worried about this,” said Happiness Mkhwanazi who has been a resident in the area since 2005.

Mkhwanazi is at her wit’s end after months of trying to solve the problem.

“We are so worried about the sewage because it’s been two months now. We have tried our best to solve this problem, but the municipality has not come to help us,” she said.Acting Ward Councillor, Shontel de Boer said the leak is beginning to damage the road.

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“The stench is quite unbearable and the raw sewage runs down the road where taxis drive through and people have to walk through it to go to work in the mornings. It’s unacceptable that the municipality gives excuse after excuse as to why it’s taking so long to fix the sewer. It’s getting worse each day. If you compare photos of the leak from two months ago to now, you can see how it’s damaging the pavement and causing road damage. People are living here, there’s a take away right next to the leak. How do you buy food when the stench of the sewer is so bad,” she said.

eThekwini Municipality’s spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said the City is working unceasingly to resolve the issue of sewage blockages.

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“Compounding our woes are incidents where alien objects continue to enter our sanitation system thus ultimately blocking it. There are instances where immediately after our teams have unblocked we find ourselves going back to square one. We also have a challenge of illegal connections to our system where material that is not compatible with our sanitation system is used to the detriment of our infrastructure. We are appealing to our residents to heed our call of not disposing of foreign objects into the sewer system. They must also refrain from connecting water and sanitation pipes illegally,” he added.

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