By Claudine Senekal
Residents of the Leonardsville area are desperately seeking intervention from uThukela District Municipality as they have been dealing with raw sewage overflowing into yards and even homes for the past two years on a daily basis.
“We cannot be living like this, with the continuous rotten smell of raw sewage invading and overflowing our residential areas. And when we do phone for assistance, we get no help,” said residents from the area.
Democratic Alliance (DA) MP, Alf Lees, Councillor Michael Suddaby and Councillor Anand Rajkoomar, led by Councillor Thys Janse van Rensburg recently visited homes along Ragoon Road, which are always affected by overflowing sewage. While talking to residents it was pointed out that the sewage plant, which is a few metres away, is no longer in working order. “The main problem, according to feedback from uThukela Municipality, is that the electric cables are always being stolen and the plant is continuously vandalised, this has led to the plant being non-functional for a few years,” said Asha Pachai, another resident.
Ward 10 Councillor, Xolani Mngadi, told The Ladysmith Herald said that he has on numerous occasions contacted uThukela to see if working solutions can be found in clearing up the overflowing sewage in the area, but it seems that his pleas have fallen on deaf ears. “It is not only the maintenance and the upkeep of the sewage plant, but the maintenance and the upkeep of water problems, such as stopping and repairing main water leaks in the area as well.”
Cllr Mngadi concluded by saying that if the sewage pump in the area is fixed or even upgraded, it will make a huge difference for the residents when it comes to sewage overflowing. The group of DA members made their way to the sewage station, only to find that metre-high grass and lack of maintenance around the building could not allow anyone clear access.
“You can clearly see that no one has been here for a long time and the overflowing sewage has now created a raw stinking mess, making it a bird’s paradise. The smell around the pump is sickly and green fungus is clearly seen growing along the raw sewage water that has filled in around the pumps. Trees in the area have also started dying. You can see by the amount of sewage that this has been overflowing for some time,” said Lees.
He further added that because the pump station is not pumping the raw sewage to the main plant, it gets pushed along the open vacant fields and also pushes up into residents’ nearby homes.
Braving the overgrown area and horrid smell of raw sewage, Cllr Thys Janse van Rensburg led the party into the plant for further investigation. The lower part of the plant was completely flooded with metres of sewage. “We need to address this immediately with uThukela and by asking several questions in trying to find working solutions and even so trying to get the pump working again, to lessen the problem of overflowing sewage.”
In a recent article published in The Ladysmith Herald, the uThukela Municipality had reported that they will be addressing sewage issues and burst pipes within the communities. The Mayor of uThukela, Councillor Inkosi NB Shabalala, said that this is the type of approach uThukela will embark on going forward. “Whenever we face a crisis, our staff members must be flexible to be deployed in the area of concern as we are all working to achieve the common goal of making a difference in the community we serve.”
Lees further added that he will also ensure that other delegates are informed and that the issues faced here are addressed. While doing a search of Leonardsville on Google maps, it clearly shows the impact of the raw sewage in the area around the plant; a scroll to a few years before shows nothing but open, vacant and dry land which is totally different to what it looks like today.
