A fact-finding mission by Democratic Alliance (DA) member of parliament (MP), Alf Lees, and uThukela District Municipality Councillor, Thys Janse van Rensburg, was recently called by residents of Van Riebeeck to inspect the raw sewage stations situated along the Ladysmith Klip River.
Sewage overflowing into the Klip River, non-functional pump stations and service delivery roads leading to these stations being inaccessible are some of the major problems. “The roads that lead to the stations cannot be reached so I’m not sure who does the services on the stations or how they even get to the problems of overflowing sewage into the river when you can’t even gain entrance to the stations,” said residents.
Residents who were part of the fact-finding mission told The Ladysmith Herald that they have been struggling for over 10 years to get assistance from uThukela Municipality. “Ten years ago, we had invited the Green Scorpions to investigate, but it has just gone from bad to worse, with no proper working solution,” said one of the residents, who wished to remain anonymous.
At one of the stations, the raw sewage completely overflows the system and flows directly into the Klip River. Residents said that after reading about the sewage system at Leonardsville in the 7th June edition of The Ladysmith Herald, they felt that they needed to bring their pleas to the Democratic Alliance as it is now five sewage plants in Ladysmith which are not working.
“All of this raw sewage is flowing into the Klip River, making it a huge health hazard. Some evenings a person cannot even enjoy a braai outside in their yard because the smell of rotten sewage is thick in the air.”
MP Lees said that problems with sewage stations are becoming a huge concern in Ladysmith and surrounding areas. “This is totally unacceptable, this will be addressed,” said MP Lees. UThukela Municipality has changed leadership and is currently under administration.
