Sea Cow Lake sewage overflow plagues community

WHILE the eThekwini Municipality’s decision to electrify hundreds of households within the Johanna Road Informal Settlement was welcomed by residents, concerns have been raised about a longstanding sewage leak plaguing the community.

Several standing puddles of sewage can be found along Johanna Road and this has led to an increase of flies and mosquitoes in the area, and an intolerable stench.

One of the community leaders of the settlement, Vincent Mpanza said urgent action is needed to address the problem which has made the lives of residents unbearable.

Mpanza said that there are two toilets within the Communal Ablution Blocks or CABs (sanitation chambers) at the bottom of the settlement had toilets that were unusable due to the blockage of the sewerage pipes.

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“In recent months, the overflow of sewage has almost covered the width of the road. The smell is unbearable. And in the sun the situation is made even worse. We’ve reported this issue several times but nothing has been done. The mosquito situation is terrible as we see the larvae breathing on the surface. When it rains that sewage ends up washing into the uMhlangane tributary and it covers more of the road.

“We have so many young children and elderly residents that walk on the road daily and this is an unhealthy situation. The toilet situation is also bad as more than 500 people use the CABs on a daily basis. We would like to have another meeting with municipal officials to explain our plight to them as this situation has been ongoing for a long time,” Mpanza said.

The eThekwini Municipality did not provide comment by the time this article was posted.