Open sewerage poses health risks for residents
The infested sewage waters run from Mhlangeni Informal Settlement towards Davidsonville’s Nick Toomey Boulevard.
The border separating Davidsonville and Mhlangeni Informal Settlement has been infested with sewage water running from the squatter camp towards Nick Toomey Boulevard since the beginning of the year.
Residents of these areas have cited that the ill-maintained sewerage line causes not only a health risk but is also a danger to the environment, children who play there and people having to cross the pathway to and from the informal settlement.
According to Alfred Matumba, a Davidsonville resident, several complaints have been lodged with the municipality and the councillor of Ward 127, however, no feedback has been received.
“The stench is bad, not only for us as people but for the general ecosystem as this water would most probably end up in a dam or river somewhere threatening life underwater. Not to mention the health risk for the children playing nearby,” he said.
It is believed that a man sustained an injury to his back when he approached the footpath on his way to Mhlangeni and this shows the level of danger the issue poses for the community.
A resident of the informal settlement, Xeliwe Nzaqa said that the smell is unbearable, and this has the potential of making them sick.
Ward 127 councillor Keke Tabane directed the Roodepoort Record’s media enquiry to Johannesburg Water.
According to Nombuso Shabalala, spokesperson for JW, the sewerage system is a major issue and goes beyond Johannesburg Water and reiterated that the area is informal and growing.
“The main issue is the large community population, expanded number of households and structures, as well as overcrowding and severe encroachment. The sewer pipelines in that area were originally designed and built to service a particular number of households. It wasn’t intended for a growing population and a long-term informal settlement,” Shabalala stated.
While the population is growing, the infrastructure has now had to carry that extra capacity. Shabalala cited that over the years, the sewerage system had been coping, but the build-up over the years as well as the growing population is now causing issues, and the piping is overworked and overloaded.
