Councillor Sharmaine Sewshanker together with Hannah Winkler, member of parliament and member of the Tourism Portfolio Commitee, conducted an oversight visit to Wilson’s Wharf, also known as the Durban Harbour, on Thursday, 5 March. The purpose of the visit was to witness the grotesque refuse and sewage issues plaguing the harbour.
The Springfield Weekly Gazette saw first-hand the litter and garbage that surfaced the water at the entrance of the boat parking as one makes their way to the sailing school.
Both the councillor and Winkler agreed that a stakeholder meeting should be scheduled as there is a current blame game between Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) and eThekwini Municipality on who should be held accountable for keeping the harbour clean.
“We will be organising a stakeholder meeting where we will invite the responsible authorities, as the mandate is shoved back-and-forth between the municipality and the port authority. An urgent plan to save the harbour must be adopted. Wilson’s Wharf is an important part of eThekwini’s tourism offering and a significant employer. Business owners we met with explained how their club membership had been significantly affected, how parents no longer wanted to send their children for sailing lessons in a giant “toilet” and how tourism had declined because of the stench and disrepair. The impact on the harbour marine life must be devastating – although this has probably not even been a concern for the city,” said Winkler.
Sewshanker said that the debris is from the garbage that is disposed by the people in the city and surrounding areas, which goes through the drain or manholes into the outlets that lead straight to the harbour.
“During heavy rains the garbage is washed into the harbour and when there is low tide it floats on the surface. There is no filtering system whatsoever as the nets which were installed have worn out over the years and need to be replaced,” Sewshanker said.
Garrith Riddel, manager of Point Yatch Club Bar and Restaurant explained how the pollution and state of the harbour affects the business. Riddel said: “It affects business negatively as the aim of the bar and restaurant right at the harbour is for clients to enjoy breakfast and some drinks while enjoying the scenery of the harbour. Nowadays all they see are piles of trash floating in the water and the stench of the sewer. If the situation continues, no-one will want to come near, which is very bad.”
Sailing school, Sail Africa manager, Katherine Hickson said that as a child she used to sail from the harbour and things were a lot different. “Nowadays parents are concerned whether their children are enjoying training or not as it seems they are sailing in a toilet. We have to take the children to the Midmar Dam which is much cleaner. It is disheartening. The litter on the marina is ridiculous. The dumpers say it’s “creating jobs for the litter- pickers” and that is not the case. People should be more responsible and throw their rubbish in bins and not on the streets. We are destroying the only source of life that we have which is the ocean. People should be held responsible,” said Hickson.
Litter is not the only problem as sewer leaks occur very often along the harbour especially towards the Bluff and Jacobs side. Climate reality leader and environmentalist, Nazeer Jamal said: “Raw sewage entering the Durban Harbour is a multi- layered issue.
“Citizens and companies are responsible as they may have illegal connections of sewer lines into stormwater drains polluting our rivers which lead to the harbour and stormwater connections to sewer lines which overburden the sewer system causing blockages,
manhole eruptions and pump station failures.”
He said authorities need to increase capacity in enforcement of the law, implement an effective maintenance plan for service infrastructure and redesign pump stations that have been failing for years.
Msawakhe Mayisela, eThekwini Municipality’s spokesperson, said: “The Lansdowne Pump Station in Jacobs had a mechanical fault which caused the pump to trip, resulting in sewage overflowing into the Amanzimnyama Canal. The pump station was restored after that incident and we have done our best to ensure that there was as little impact on the environment as possible. We are currently in the process of acquiring parts to repair the faulty pump, however, our mechanics have measures in place to ensure that this does not occur again until the repair,” Mayisela said.
He said that the issue was reported to the Department of Water and Sanitation and the Department of Environment Forestry and Fisheries and bathing had to be prohibited in Durban beaches. Mayisela said the city is monitoring the situation very closely.
EThekwini Municipality and TNPA were contacted for comment on the issue of accountability of keeping the harbour clean, but did not respond at the time of going to print.
