They’re up to their necks in it.
Despite numerous complaints by Honeydew Ridge residents, the City of Johannesburg has still not attended to the sewer line which has caused sewage floods outside their homes.
Keith Coyne is the co-owner of Cobalt Property Consulting, an agency managing Habanos complex in Honeydew Ridge. He claims the problem has persisted for years.
“When we took over from the previous managing agent in December last year, we discovered that residents from Macanundo and Habanos complexes experience severe problems, especially during heavy rains or storms, when sewage pours out of the gulleys,” Coyne said.
Coyne accuses Joburg Water of poor workmanship, citing previous incidents when city contractors did indeed work on sewerage lines, but did not rectify the problem. He suspects that the sewerage is broken or not big enough to carry sewerage for both complexes.
“As a managing agency we keep on getting complaints about major problems as the sewer keeps on overflowing. We lodged faults with the municipality after we spent an absolute fortune on a variety of plumbers trying to resolve the problem,” he complained.
“We suspect the developer connected the sewer line to the municipality’s storm water system. It is a health hazard to residents if this is indeed the case.”
Coyne added that his agency consulted with Ward 97 councillor, Jaco Engelbrecht and that investigations continue.
Responding to the matter, Joburg Water’s communications manager Millicent Kabwe said the sewer line in question is monitored on a regular basis by the depot.
“It is an infrastructural issue and it is best for people to contact the call centre first on (011) 375 5555 and get a reference number. If not dealt with I can use the reference number to refer the matter to senior officials within the municipality,” she said.
“When queries are brought to our attention we respond in a timeous manner and within our turnaround times for sewer queries.”
She reiterated the utility’s long-term plan to replace the sewer line completely in order to minimise the number of blockages experienced during raining season.
