Food wholesaler disheartened by sewage spill

Megasave food wholesaler’s staff members are discontented with the constant sewage leakage on the store premises in Tieroog Street.

Sanet van Wyk, the owner of Megasave, says the sewage has been leaking from the drainage systems since September. She says it seemed to be a problem in the area in the beginning. Since the first spill, she and the store manager, Matthew Vers, have contacted several municipal officials to report the situation. Whenever they lodge a complaint, they are allegedly told that the relevant people would be sent to assess the problem. But, according to the employees, no one has been.

Van Wyk says at least two private companies have worked on the sewer lines at separate times over the months. When they recently installed new pipes, she thought the problem would be fixed. Later last week, however, she noticed that the leakage persisted.

Van Wyk and Vers say the situation has negatively impacted the store during this time. They have lost numerous customers due to the spillage and lingering stench.

Customers often ask her how they could serve customers like this. Vers says some customers even turn around at the smell of the stench. Van Wyk has spent a lot of money on water, Jeyes Fluid and Dettol to constantly clean and disinfect the ground.

“It’s embarrassing. I have to explain myself and customers don’t want to hear that explanation. They believe what they see,” she said.

The wastewater moves down the street and joins another sewage leak in Opaal Street. Van Wyk said she’s most concerned about the health of her employees, customers and their children who enter the wholesaler. They have contacted several people from the Department of Health, hoping to get assistance.

Tebogo Lekgethwane, the spokesperson of the Department of Health, denies any knowledge of the matter and says the responsibility lies with the municipal infrastructure and health departments. “The health hazard is a result of the damaged system and can only be addressed if municipal maintenance attends to it. The department will engage the municipality on this matter,” he said.

William Maphosa, the municipal spokesperson, says J.B. Marks has appointed a service provider and the work of resolving the problem is currently underway. “We hope that the problem would have been resolved by the end of this week at the latest. The problem is caused by the wanton destruction of the community infrastructure by miscreants and social misfits,” he says. He explains that the rocks they found in the sewer line were likely thrown into one of the maintenance holes.

He appeals to the community to alert the municipality if they should see anyone doing similar deeds so that they can be reported to the police.