Ward 20 resident frustrated over sewage woes
“It costs about R800 every time someone has to come and clean it, but unfortunately I cannot afford that amount every second week, so sometimes the cleaning has to wait,” said a resident.
Another community member in eMalahleni is forced to endure the overwhelming reek of raw sewage spilling from a damaged sewer line for almost two years.
The Ward 20 resident that wished to remain anonymous outlined that her problems started when she first moved into the house on Gordon Road, “I was not aware of the sewage problem when I bought the house,” the resident confessed.
She explained two years ago, she began experiencing sewage problems when the toilet didn’t want to flush, and before she knew it, sewage started pooling in her backyard.
“I got a plumber to unclog my drain, however, I was then informed by them that it was not my drain, but a problem in the main sewage line, which private plumbers are not allowed to fix.
I contacted the previous ward councillor who was able to get someone from the municipality to unclog the main drain,” the resident said.
The resident cried that after the Emalahleni Local Municipality unclogged the main drain, whenever there is heavy rain or the water comes back after being off for a while, the sewage starts pooling in her backyard again and has gotten progressively worse each time.
“On Tuesday, April 18 it started again, and it was the worst it has ever been. My whole backyard was covered with sewage and the sewage started running down Gordon Road.
I reported it to our new councillor and she reported it to the municipality. On Wednesday, April 19 the municipality was there to fix the problem, however by Thursday the sewage was running down the road again,” the resident mentioned.
On Friday, April 21 she said she was under the assumption that the problem was finally solved.
However, that was not the case. On Monday, April 24 the resident said that her backyard was once more covered in sewage that was running down the road again.
It was “fixed” again and I hoped that it would last this time.
“By Thursday, May 11, it started again and sewage was everywhere. The problem was only solved by Monday, May 15 and since then, it has been okay.
The Ward Councillor even had to get the environmental department involved to put pressure on the municipality to solve the problem,” she expressed.
The resident also said that another major concern is the clean up afterwards as she has had to pay an excessive amount of money for someone to come clean up the sewage every time.
“It costs about R800 every time someone has to come and clean it, but unfortunately I cannot afford that amount every second week, so sometimes the cleaning has to wait.
And because of that, my dogs can’t go outside as I am scared they will get sick,” the resident cried.
Another health hazard experienced by this resident is the children from the daycare next to her home because the little ones walk through the sewage when they came from school.
“Many people thought it was a burst pipe, as all the toilet paper etc was stuck in my backyard, so they were disgusted when they realised what it was. It has been very emotionally draining, especially when you get someone to clean it and a day or two later it is the same thing again.
It also causes unnecessary stress. I hope that this will not happen again, however with the way things are going, I am not very positive,” the resident concluded.
Ward 20 Councillor Maureen Scheepers mentioned that the blockage of the main municipal drain in front of the complex on Gordon Road is a reoccurring issue.
“Every time the drain is reported to me by the resident it takes a lot of effort to get the department out to unblock it. On the last occasion, I reported the matter to the Emalahleni Local Municipality Environmental Department as the health risk was very high as the entire property was flooded with sewerage.
Unfortunately, feedback on the main cause of this complaint has yet to be provided by the department.
Clean-up of the sewage in the property was requested by me to the department but I never received feedback and the resident did not receive the service and resorted to paying for clean-up herself,” Scheepers concluded.
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