Business owners and residents in Kremetart Avenue do not know whom to turn to regarding their sewage woes. Businesses suffer as the stench is unbearable.
The sewage line in the street started overflowing on Friday last week due to a blockage. The following day things got worse and clients of Liana van der Westhuizen’s West End Studio had to wade through a river of sewage. Many cancelled their appointments because of the terrible odours – even inside the salon.
Liana said, “We attempted to call the municipality but the phone kept ringing. The municipality is totally incompetent. We tried phoning the emergency number (011 951 3000) for sewage throughout Saturday but the phone just rang.”
But West End Studio was not the only business that suffered.
Tishas Dog Parlour washed down the parking area in front of the shop with Jeyes Fluid to try and kill the smell – not that it helped.
“I was trying to help but things got worse as I actually had customers phoning in asking if we had washed their dogs with Jeyes Fluid. That was not what we were doing but once again the municipality has caused my business harm,” Martie Visagie, owner of the dog parlour said.
Daphne Hildebrand, 80, said that was not the first time sewage had spilled into the street and added that she too tried to report the problem to the municipality that Saturday, and her calls also were not answered.
Hildebrand’s daughter had just returned home after undergoing surgery and it was crucial for her wounds to stay clean and sanitised. According to Hildebrand swarms of flies invaded their house since the sewage problem, which definitely caused the risk of infection.
André Esterhuizen has been living in Kremetart Avenue for 17 years and also tried phoning the municipality emergency number that Saturday.
“I managed to get hold of someone at the sewage department on Friday but was told they simply can’t do anything about the sewage because their truck is broken and they can’t fix it any other way. On Monday workers arrived and opened the blocked drain with root augers. Why could they only do that on Monday? Does the municipality not work on Saturdays?” Esterhuizen asked.
Jannie van der Westhuizen approached one of the municipal workers on Monday after they had opened the drain.
“I asked him if they were going to clean the human excrement in the road and in the veld next to the salon but he replied ‘No, it’s not our jobs to clean it’. He then got into his vehicle and left. I believe the problem is with the workers; their arrogance and lazy attitude towards their jobs are causing all our problems, ” Jannie said.
The residents of Kremetart Avenue are asking valid questions and all the people who were interviewed are of the opinion that the municipality must start giving explanations as to why the system is failing.
According to the municipality the procedure for logging a sewage problem is as follows:
• The number to call for a problem during working hours (8.00-16.00) is 011 411 0095 and after hours 011 951 3000.
• The sewage problem is then logged onto their system and given out to the appropriate team to investigate and sort out that same day if possible, depending on the number of issues they need to deal with. The logs are printed out daily and teams have to report about their progress to their superiors.
• It is the team’s responsibility to clean after themselves including cleaning the roads and sidewalks polluted with the sewage.
• If the problem could not be fixed that same day or if components need to be ordered then the log stays open as an ongoing issue and printed out weekly to be finalised.
• The municipality said their call centre ladies suffer a lot of abuse on a daily basis. People are asked not to vent out their frustrations with the ladies; they simply are doing their jobs and are not personally responsible for any of the problems.
• The numbers listed above are purely for water and sewage problems and should not be called for power outages or any other municipal problems.
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