Residents complain that it has been an ongoing issue for more than 30 years.
In July 2004 the Addie reported on the leak at which point ward councillor Ramesh Sheodin stated that the leak may be caused by illegal miners as they block the pipes in order to gain more water pressure to wash their gold.
Read: Sewage continues to spill in Dersley
Then in August 2015 members of the Dersley Community Association (DCA) staged a protest saying that they simply couldn’t live with the stench and that it had been leaking for weeks even though they had reported the issue several times.
Later that month, in response to the article, DCA members met with Anton Deysel, head of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality Water and Sanitation Department who said that thousands of Rand had already been spent trying to fix the problem.
Read: Dersley residents fed up
He added that heavy manhole covers were going to be installed to prevent illegal miners from accessing the pipes.
In January of this year the Addie reported on the leak again after residents Stefan du Toit and Lynette du Preez complained that sewage is still leaking, with no permanent solution from the metro in sight.
Ward councillor Ramesh Sheodin says that the leak is one of his biggest challenges since being elected in 2011.
“A major infrastructure upgrade is required to address the problem,” he says.
He says that he truly feels sorry for the residents who have to live around the stench and the unhygienic conditions.
“I have taken many petitions and even done a motion to the Ekurhuleni municipality but no solution is forthcoming,” says Sheodin.
He promises that he is going to pursue the matter until a permanent solution is found.
The Addie is still awaiting comment from the metro.
