Overflowing sewage tanks affect beachgoers’ health

WARD 66 councillor, JP Prinsloo, said he will continue to alleviate the sewage problems at Anstey’s Beach which has overflowing sewage tanks that are now affecting the health of beachgoers.

Cllr Prinsloo said it has become an increasing trend for the city to have no concrete plan on how to deal with serious service delivery issues. This has become evident in their poor management of the sewage leaking on the Bluff beaches for almost two months.

Multiple emails, WhatsApp messages and phone calls have been sent to senior Parks, Water and Sanitation, Health and Architecture officials to urgently address the sewage leaking on the beaches. “Yet after various site meetings where conducted on the beaches no one has taken any concrete action to address this concern. We are now faced with beachgoers being exposed to dangerous health conditions and getting sick from these conditions,” he said.

READ: Vagrants occupy storm-damaged Ansteys building

“The situation has reached a point where the ward 66 chairperson for Beach and Coastal protection, Duncan Pratt, had to request the assistance of Sanitec this weekend to empty out the sewage tanks on Anstey’s beach to alleviate the sewage problems. I will keep applying pressure on the city to address this issue and ensure that anyone visiting the Bluff beaches are safe and healthy during their visit,” he added.

READ: Ansteys Beach dune stability finalised

Brighton Beach CPF and COP chairman who is concerned for the health of the beach and the children said there is supposed to be a device called a sucker that sucks up all the gunge from the pits, which is suppose to be done on a regular basis. “But the municipality is not coming on a regular basis and because of that we have sewage running down the beach and we have youngsters playing around the area, not forgetting that we have a restaurant directly outside the flowing waste,” he said.

During the interview with the SUN, a woman is heard frantically shouting at her young son to move away from the pits. “It’s diabolical and it’s in front of a restaurant. I’m disgusted to even watch my child go near the beach sand,” said the woman.

Rossell has reported the issue to the authorities and was promised that something will be done. “As far as I know this leakage has been happening for the past two years, obviously it doesn’t overflow all the time as it depends on the traffic at the restaurant and how busy the beach is – and it’s always busy,” added Rossell.

A concerned parent and Bluff resident who chose not to be named said her 12-year-old son fell terribly ill after he surfed at Ansteys. “I took him to the doctor and he was treated for a mild chest infection last week. He seemed to be recovering well but on Saturday, 30 March he went surfing for most of the day and on Sunday he fell ill again. I found later, that his friends who also swam over the weekend had similar symptoms,” she said.

The symptoms the children experienced were headaches, high fevers, muscle cramps, pain, mild diarrhea, and congestion. The mother questioned the efforts made into the management of the beach and the sewage pits. “Surely, there are funds in the local departments which are allocated in the budget for water testing and prevention. Why are the relevant departments not managed and why is there nobody ensuring that the job gets done?”

DID YOU KNOW?
Click on the words highlighted in red to read more on this and related topics.
To receive news links via WhatsApp, send an invite to 061 876 3179
The Southlands Sun is also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest – why not join us there?

Do you have more information pertaining to this story?
Feel free to let us know by commenting on our facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031 903 2341 and speak to a journalist.

(Comments posted on this issue may be used for publication in the Sun)